TOLEDO, Ohio — UPDATE: Roman and McCarthy's surgeries were successes, according to a social media post made by Washington Local Schools. The surgeon described McCarthy's kidney as "beautiful".
Roman and his surgeon are pictured in the following image, which was captured right prior to the surgery.
According to Michigan-based Kidneys for Kids creator Brian Martindale, there are more than 1,100 children across the U.S. who are in need of a kidney transplant. It's why the ask for living donors is such a big push for the organization.
That push is how the life of Roman McCormick, a 15-year-old Whitmer High School sophomore, was saved by his geometry teacher, Eddie McCarthy.
It's thanks to McCarthy's giving nature for his students that McCormick will have a second chance at life since his teacher is a perfect match for a kidney.
McCormick has branchiootorenal (BOR) syndrome, a condition that disrupts the development of tissues in the neck and causes malformations of the ears and kidneys. This hereditary disease was discovered in McCormick at around 12 months old.
Redd said learning about the disease helped his father get on the transplant list, but became a waiting game for McCormick and the family.
"Just knowing that your son's going to need a kidney transplant at some point down the road, not knowing when that's going to be, that's kind of hard," Redd said. "Every birthday was bittersweet."
But when the family got the call that Roman had a match, it brought Redd to tears and filled the family with joy.
"They just want to hang out with him and play and throw a ball around," Redd said.
Roman isn't able to do a lot of physical activity, but that doesn't mean he's not into sports. He plays in Whitmer's esports league and enjoys soccer as well.
His life ahead of him has new possibilities, thanks to McCarthy.
"They need a kidney, we all have an extra kidney so ... that's why it kind of felt like a no-brainer," McCarthy said.
Martindale, on behalf of Kidneys for Kids, was the one who helped get Roman's story out into the public eye. After McCormick's first year in high school, he went into stage five with his kidneys and needed a transplant. So, a story in Temperance, MI was done in February looking for a donor.
"It's just a wonderful, I can't describe the feeling," Martindale said. "It's like the feeling I had after donating my kidney 10 years ago. I'm so happy for Roman and his family."
Martindale is a living donor, having given his kidney to a 10-year-old girl when he was 51. Kidneys for Kids' most recent push is to have 100 donors for 100 kids.
To McCarthy, donating his kidney was just simple math.
"I'm very much a math teacher," McCarthy said. "I have two [kidneys] and I only need one. So, there's one left over."
McCarthy said Roman is polite, quiet and works hard. Although Roman is a man of few words, he has kind ones, for his new favorite teacher.
"He's cool. He plays guitar. He's a good teacher."
The transplant surgery will happen on July 19.