FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WKRN) — A woman in Franklin helped her former teacher by donating a kidney three days before his birthday.

Kelly Wilkerson had not seen Jackie Bennett, her former high school teacher at Page High School, in three decades. But when an urgent Facebook post written by Bennett's daughter came across her alumni page, it got her attention.

“I think he was the football coach for 35 years, and a chemistry teacher at our high school,” she said.

The post she saw read, in part: “I know how much everybody loves my dad, and if anyone has a kidney lying around, let me know because he needs one.”

Bennett needed a kidney soon, or else he was going to have to go on dialysis. Wilkerson wanted to see if she would be a match, adding that she has been an organ donor since she was 16 years old.

“Living organ donation, I've always just thought it's such a gift,” she said.

Wilkerson never thought she would be able to help someone she knew, but at 50 years old and multiple medical tests later, doctors determined she would be a match for her Coach Bennett.

Surgery day was Friday, October 23.

“The doctor had come in to see me, the transplant surgeon, and he was like, the kidney just started working immediately, like really well,” Wilkerson said. 

As she recovers, she has some pain, but describes it as a small price to pay.

“There's just pressure inside, kind of on the left side,” Wilkerson said, explaining that the surgery could feel comparable to a C-section. 

She said the timing of the surgery could not have been more perfect.

“Last night, I don't know why I got so tickled; I was like, wow, we'll never be able to top this gift,” she said. “Today is Coach Bennett's birthday. So I was like, well, that's probably the best gift I'll ever give.”

Wilkerson is glad that she could give him more time to live worry-free with his family.

“Just important to me that his grandkids, who call him 'Big Daddy,' which I love so much, they get to spend as much time as they can,” she said.

Wilkerson hopes others see their story and want to find a way to help save lives as well.

“You're giving a full, entire organ to someone, but really, in the grand scheme of things, it's simple,” she told News 2.

She encourages everyone to sign up to help someone. Even if you are not comfortable donating an organ, there are other ways to save a life, like donating blood.

Here is one way you can sign up to be an organ donor in Tennessee.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/franklin-woman-gives-life-changing-gift-to-high-school-coach-decades-later/