It was a life-changing moment for Natasha Fuller. Her first-grade Wisconsin teacher made an amazing announcement - she was going to donate her kidney to the 8-year-old.
The emotionally charged moments of the announcement to the grandmother, Chris Burleton, were captured by the Oakfield Elementary School District teacher, Jodi Schmidt, in a video.
Burleton put the mind-blowing news on Facebook. "This WONDERFUL lady named Jodi Schmidt is a teacher at Natashas school...and she gave the best ever present to Tasha.Jodi is a match for Tasha to get a kidney.........so very very thankful to Jodi and her family....Tasha will get a NEW kidney from this wonderful lady......GOD BLESS!!!!!!" the grandmother wrote.
This WONDERFUL lady named Jodi Schmidt is a teacher at Natashas school...and she gave the best ever present to...
Posted by Chris Burleton on Friday, March 4, 2016
Last week, Schmidt invited Burleton to the school and gave Burleton a pink, gift-wrapped box, inside which was a present with a message that told her that the child's teacher would be a kidney donor for the child.
"You? Oh my gosh!" Burleton exclaimed when she opened the box, and then broke into an emotional outburst. "Here I thought I was coming to school because she was naughty!"
Fuller has been sick since she was born and has lived with her grandparents, Chris and Mark Burleton of Oakfield, Wis., for the past two years in order to get the benefits of specialized care at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Her parents and twin sister live in Oklahoma.
Fuller had been born with prune belly syndrome, which can lead to urinary tract disease as well as the need for kidney dialysis. She had to keep accompanying her grandmother to Milwaukee three times a week. However, reported to be in renal failure, she was on the donor kidney list for years. Still, she tended to develop infections that immediately removed her from the transplant list, Burleton said.
"I just lost it," Burleton said. "You could never tell this little girl has three tubes in her, she doesn't let it faze her. She is happy and sassy, and she just wants to lead a normal life, and do things like go swimming."
In the video, the principal of Oakfield Elementary School, Becky Doyle, explained that the process began last December when Schmidt discovered that she could be a match to be a kidney donor to Fuller. "I want to do something for this child," Doyle recalled Schmidt saying. "She found out yesterday that she's a match in two areas. She has talked with her family and her husband."
Schmidt felt that she was the right person and had come to the world for a reason. "I'm so excited," Schmidt said in the video. "I figured I'm O-negative blood and it did just come to me. I think we're all brought to a certain place and time for a reason."
The news was broken to Burleton, and then Fuller was brought in to take the gift waiting for her. The child, though, was not too aware of the significance of the present. She first read, "It's a match," on the card, and then thanked and hugged her teacher. However, when the adults asked if she knew what the match involved, she shook her head.
She was later told that some sweets might be involved too, which excited her.
"We can get a popsicle where I was ... in the hospital?" Fuller asked before giving her teacher a second hug.
Watch the emotional footage below.
