Detroit senior student A'Ja Booth comes back to school with a new kidney, donated by West Side Academy teacher Nadirah Muhammad, almost six months after undergoing the transplant.
Last Tuesday, 18-year-old Booth was welcomed back by her high school, with her teacher and donor hugging her as they walked down a red carpet at the school gymnasium.
Muhammad teaches physical education and health.
When asked by local news outlets, the teacher said she was inspired after hearing Booth talk about her book 'My Dialysis Journey' to a co-teacher. It detailed her four-year experience of going through different kinds of medical treatment for her sickness.
"It was a no-brainer," Muhammad shared. "After I read her story, I immediately decided that I wanted to volunteer to donate one of my kidneys."
On December 15, Henry Ford Hospital's operating crew removed the teacher's kidney, preserved it with ice inside a cooler, and rushed it 3 miles away to where Booth was confined.
Muhammad went back to teaching in January.
Dr. Jason Denny, a surgeon at Henry Ford Hospital who performed the operation said that this is the first time he encountered a teacher donating to a student, after conducting hundreds of organ transplants in Detroit. "We've had ex-wives, and bosses and their employees," he said.
The kidney transplant was successful. Booth's doctor had to ensure that her body would receive Muhammad's kidney well, giving her about 20 pills to take every day.
"I'm blessed and I'm thankful," said Booth at her special comeback in West Side Academy, stopping tears falling from her eyes.
"We expect nothing but grand and glorious things for you," said Principal Andrea Ayler to the student, in front of her schoolmates who were throwing confetti and loudly cheering for her.
Graduating in June this year, Booth plans to go to Oakland University for college. The senior student says she wants to be a nurse.
