A simple book dedication from a former student has saved the life of a Florida high school teacher and shined the social media spotlight on organ donation.
It all started two years ago, when best-selling thriller writer and History Channel host Brad Meltzer, 45, dedicated his book “History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time,” to his 11th-grade history teacher Ellen Sherman.
“For my history teacher Ellen Sherman, who taught me the power of asking the right questions,” the dedication read.
After seeing the dedication, Mrs. Sherman, 71, who had last seen Mr. Meltzer at a 2011 book signing, reconnected with her former student, whom she taught at North Miami Beach Senior High School. After a few exchanges, Mrs. Sherman, now retired from teaching, shared some unfortunate news: She was in poor health and needed a kidney transplant, but had not found a matching donor.
Mr. Meltzer, who has a diverse portfolio of novels, comic books, television shows and children’s books, reached out to his Facebook followers, who at the time numbered around 60,000, in hopes of finding a living donor.
“Maybe I’m insane, or maybe this is going to be the best Spreading Kindness story of all time,” he posted on his Facebook page in November 2013.
A number of potential donors came forward. One appeared to be a match, and the woman traveled to Florida to be evaluated. But doctors found a cancerous tumor on her kidney.
Even though a donor wasn’t found, Mr. Meltzer was inspired by the story of the potential donor. He reached out again to his growing Facebook audience, which now exceeds 100,000, telling them the story and asking for additional donors to volunteer to be tested. “I’m taking this as a sign,” he wrote on Facebook in October 2014, . “By being so kind and volunteering to save my teacher, her own life was saved….”
As it happened, Mr. Meltzer had a powerful ally in his bid to save his teacher: Sheryl Sandberg,the chief operating officer of Facebook, who was also a former student of Mrs. Sherman. Ms. Sandberg shared the plea with her followers, who now exceed 1.5 million.
“My high school teacher, Ellen Sherman, is one of the many people on the wait list for a kidney,” Ms. Sandberg wrote. “Sharing a moving story of what happened to the first person who volunteered to help her — and hoping we can all help her find a match.”
The social media campaign reached Amy Waggoner, a 36-year-old graphic designer in Chantilly, Va., who volunteered to be tested. When she did not hear back from Mrs. Sherman’s contact (she later learned her email had landed in a spam filter), something nudged her to try again. She sent Mr. Meltzer a message via Facebook. Mr. Meltzer happened to see it and forwarded it to the hospital contact, “just in case it fell through the cracks,” he said.
Ms. Waggoner turned out to be a match. Last week, she donated her kidney.
“I’m not the kind of person who will go to the doctor,” Ms. Waggoner said. “I hate needles, but for some reason, I felt compelled to do this. The only answer I’ve been able to give anyone is ‘God.’ ”
Mrs. Sherman said she had no idea Mr. Meltzer would put so much effort into helping her.
“I didn’t know how much behind it he was going to get,” she said, speaking on the phone from the hospital room in Miami she shared with her donor. “There’s hardly language to describe how grateful I feel to Amy and to all the other people that I’ve encountered on this trip through Neverland.”
Mr. Meltzer, whose thriller novels contain a number of unexpected twists and turns, says he remains stunned by the real-life series of plot twists that resulted in finding a kidney for his teacher. “It was like this complex dominoes presentation where they all have to tip at the exact moment or it all fails,” he said. “Somehow, they all stumbled in the right way.”
A few days after the transplant, Mrs. Sherman said her mind already felt clearer. “This disease kind of puts you in a brain fog,” she said, referring to her diagnosis of arterial nephroclerosis, a progressive kidney disease. Her donor, Ms. Waggoner, said she was still feeling the effects of her operation but was in great spirits.
“The first thing I wanted to see out of surgery was Ellen’s face,” she said. “I wanted to see how good she looked. I’m really just happy that everything went well.”
Mrs. Sherman is now working with the Flood Sisters Kidney Foundation of America, an organization she was connected with through Ms. Sandberg, to help interested volunteers who were not a match for her find others in need.
And on Tuesday, Mr. Meltzer will release his latest picture book for children, “I Am Helen Keller,” part of a book series called “Ordinary People Change the World.” The book explores the relationship between Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan.
The last page reads, “Go say thank you to that teacher who helped you when you needed it most.”
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