Hilliard teachers face long recovery following kidney transplant

by Alana Bridges

Editor-In-Chief

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

Mr. Allen and Mrs. Case stand together on the day of their procedures. Photo by NBC 4.

Four weeks ago the heroic acts of local Hilliard teacher Mrs.Case saved Bradley math teacher Mr. Allen. When his kidneys went into failure his long time friend and coworker stepped up to the plate. September 2nd, 2022 marked a memorable day, and the Hilliard community couldn’t be more thankful to Mrs.Case. After the news of a successful transplant the jaguar jungle is ready to see Mr.Allen and Mrs.Case back in the building.

While his journey has been long and bumpy Mr.Allen says “I can’t wait to get back to doing what I love!” His teaching career came to a pause when his illness IGA Nephropathy or Berger’s Disease took over. His everyday life was disrupted, “In my case it was super aggressive and damaged both of my kidneys to the point where they barely worked in about 8 years” says Mr.Allen.

When asked his biggest adjustment during this he says, “The biggest problem I had with my disease is that I am extremely tired all the time”. This is just one of the many disruptions in his life, “Teaching and being on my feet all day was exhausting the last couple years”. While he couldn’t be in the classroom anymore he continued to make an impact on each student he interacted with.

Mrs.Case saw the impact his illness was having and took action. Stating that she “worked for Mr. Allen for years and our families are friends. I know that he and his family have been significantly impacted by his kidney disease and his quality of life was declining too much”.

Her generosity baffled many as having this type of surgery is scary. “I put the surgery into perspective. Being in a bit of pain and discomfort for a short period of time is a blip on the map for me, but life changing for him and his family” Mrs.Case states. If only every person had such an amazing friend as Mr. Allen has!

While the surgery is over and both are on the road to recovery Mrs. Case would like everyone to remember how important these kidney donations are, “you can impact a life for both an individual and their family”, and to Mr.Allen she says, “I want you and your family to live a full life, as you deserve”.

For more information on kidney donations or organ donations visit Organ Donation.