A million-to-one shot: Assistant donating kidney to PE teacher
Douglas County Sentinel | Colton Campbell
Photo: Ed Mann (gray hoodie) watches a balloon he’s released float to the sky. Mann, who lost his kidneys several years ago because of a rare autoimmune disease called scleroderma, is receiving a kidney donation from Felicia Henderson (right, in the gray jacket). The balloon release at Mt. Zion Elementary, where Mann is a PE teacher and Henderson is a teaching assistant, was held in honor of the two and to give them a proper send-off before their surgery this morning. (Photo by Colton Campbell/Times-Georgian)
Standing in the parking lot of the school he’s served for 17 years, surrounded by all of Mt. Zion Elementary’s students, Edward Mann let go of a red balloon and watched it float to the sky while everyone cheered.
The 40-person balloon release Thursday was to honor Mann, a physical elementary teacher at the school, and to give him a proper send-off for his trip to Atlanta Friday to receive a kidney replacement. The “one-in-a-million†donor is Mt. Zion Elementary teaching assistant and 12-year friend of Mann’s, Felicia Henderson, who let a silver balloon go right by his side.
Mann was diagnosed in 2009 with scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disorder that affects about 300,000 people in the United States. The most visible symptom is a hardening of the skin, but the disease can also affect the blood vessels, muscles and internal organs. This is what happened to Mann.
“I’ve lived without kidneys for three years,†Mann said Thursday. “After a lot of trying to find a donor, we finally found one in Felicia. It’s unbelievable. She is such a kind person, and the doctors are amazed â€" they said finding the right donor so close to me was a one-in-a-million shot. So it’s all God, I know that.â€
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{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
Photo: Ed Mann (gray hoodie) watches a balloon he’s released float to the sky. Mann, who lost his kidneys several years ago because of a rare autoimmune disease called scleroderma, is receiving a kidney donation from Felicia Henderson (right, in the gray jacket). The balloon release at Mt. Zion Elementary, where Mann is a PE teacher and Henderson is a teaching assistant, was held in honor of the two and to give them a proper send-off before their surgery this morning. (Photo by Colton Campbell/Times-Georgian)
Standing in the parking lot of the school he’s served for 17 years, surrounded by all of Mt. Zion Elementary’s students, Edward Mann let go of a red balloon and watched it float to the sky while everyone cheered.
The 40-person balloon release Thursday was to honor Mann, a physical elementary teacher at the school, and to give him a proper send-off for his trip to Atlanta Friday to receive a kidney replacement. The “one-in-a-million†donor is Mt. Zion Elementary teaching assistant and 12-year friend of Mann’s, Felicia Henderson, who let a silver balloon go right by his side.
Mann was diagnosed in 2009 with scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disorder that affects about 300,000 people in the United States. The most visible symptom is a hardening of the skin, but the disease can also affect the blood vessels, muscles and internal organs. This is what happened to Mann.
“I’ve lived without kidneys for three years,†Mann said Thursday. “After a lot of trying to find a donor, we finally found one in Felicia. It’s unbelievable. She is such a kind person, and the doctors are amazed â€" they said finding the right donor so close to me was a one-in-a-million shot. So it’s all God, I know that.â€
Read more
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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