Family Life

'Truly our hero!': Teacher donates kidney to his student

Kaden Koebcke is a 12-year-old who has just received one of the most amazing gifts ever. 

The preteen, from Powder Springs, Georgia, was in need of a kidney and someone stepped in to help him.

William Wilkinson, Kaden's teacher at Grace Christian Academy, decided to serve as a living donor to him. 

The technology teacher found out that he was the perfect match to donate a kidney to the young boy. 

The family had reached out to seek help by setting up a Facebook page called Kaden's Kidney Search.

According to Fox 5, Cami, Kaden's mother, said that she will never forget when William went to their house to tell them the good news. 

"He says, 'Well, do you guys really wanna know?' And we said, 'Yeah, we wanna know, we wanna thank him'," she said. 

"And you know, He's like, 'Well, it's me.' And I mean it just – I mean … it was unbelievable.'' 

Cami wrote on Facebook about how grateful she was to William for everything he had done. 

"I can't come up with the words to describe how much we appreciate Will Wilkinson. He has given Kaden the chance of living a normal life! He is truly our hero! I want to thank his family, because they are a part of this too!''

She continued, ''the Wilkinson's moved to the Atlanta area almost the same time as we did. We both chose the same school for our kids. This all isn't coincidence. Will, you are such a selfless person, our true hero. We love you, we appreciate you, and we just cannot thank you enough!"

The operation went ahead for Kaden and William on August 14th. 

Kaden's family kept social media updated with the news of how they're both doing. 

Kaden was let out of ICU and is now on the transplant floor, the family wrote on August 20th. 

"He is also off oxygen! He is in good spirits and even laughed a little today. We checked on Will and he is doing great! He is still a little sore, but he continues to get better each day!" they wrote.

Well done to Will for his selfless gesture – we're wishing them both a healthy and fast recovery! 

Search
Search results for
View all