Pre-K Teacher Donates Kidney To 5-Yr-Old To Give Her The Life She Deserves

Aย preschool teacherย donated a kidney to her five-year-old student to help her experience a normal life.

A beautiful little girl

When Kayleigh Kulage was born at 26 weeks, she weighed less than a pound and was just 11.25 inches tall. She spent the next 158 days relying on tubes in the NICU and ended up leaving desperate for a new kidney.

But Desiree, Kayleighโ€™s mother, said herย daughterย โ€”ย whoโ€™s now five โ€” has grown to be a perfect little girl.

โ€œIf she didnโ€™t have like these tubes on her or anything you wouldnโ€™t really know anythingโ€™s wrong with her,โ€ Desiree toldย Fox 2. โ€œShe never cries. She never complains about pain. Sheโ€™s a happy kid. I couldnโ€™t have been any luckier to have her.โ€

Every night, Kayleighโ€™s parents set up peritoneal dialysis to pump excess fluid from her body โ€”ย but thanks to theย extreme kindnessย of Kayleighโ€™s pre-kindergarten teacher, they wonโ€™t have to any longer.

โ€œWe were telling Kayleigh because we were giving her a bath that you wonโ€™t have your catheter anymore, you wonโ€™t have to do dialysis anymore,โ€ said Josh Kulage, Kayleighโ€™s father, to Fox 2. โ€œA whole new chapter.โ€

Credit: Pacific, Mo. girl receives kidney from her pre-K teacher, Youtube, FOX 2 St. Louis

A guardian angel

Robin Mach, Kayleighโ€™s preschool teacher, only met her in 2019, but had little hesitation aboutย donating her kidneyย to the young girl.

โ€œShe was a student at our school. And then she had to receive some home services so I got to do that. So, Iโ€™ve been working with Kayleigh for about a year and a half,โ€ Robin told Fox 2. โ€œShe needed it. I wanted her to have a normal life and go to school. And this is how we can help her get there.โ€ 

For the first 24 hours, Kayleighโ€™s family was terrified she wouldnโ€™t make it through. But a week post-op, sheโ€™s doing great.

โ€œSheโ€™s come out of it like a trooper.ย I had the PICU doctor yesterday say that he canโ€™t believe she just had major surgery less than a week ago. And that sheโ€™s probablyย the happiest childย in the hospital,โ€ Desiree said.

After going through surgery, Mach wasnโ€™t worried about herself. Rather, her focus was on making sure little Kayleigh was doing alright.

โ€œSheโ€™s incredible. She was offering to do our laundry. And take me back and forth. And Iโ€™m like, โ€˜you just had major surgery. You need to go home and rest,โ€™โ€ Desiree said of Mach.ย โ€œI donโ€™t know how to thank her. So, all I keep on saying isย thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.โ€ย 

Sheโ€™ll be able to swim in the ocean one day

Desiree hopes that now that Kayleigh has a kidney sheโ€™ll be able to lead a normal life.

โ€œShe has never had a bath, like a normal bath. Sheโ€™ll be able to swim, maybe experience the ocean. So, sheโ€™s going to be able to experience stuff sheโ€™s never been able to experience,โ€ she said. 

The power of kindness

Kayleigh did nothing wrong to get into her health situation; she was simply born in need of a kidney. But there was a chance her life could get better, and that glimmer ofย hopeย is all Mach needed to help her get there.

Not everyone can, or is willing to, donate a kidney โ€” that is truly an angelic act. But we all can be kind to one another and do the little things that make peopleโ€™s lives around us that much better.


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