The staff and students at all of the West Windsor-Plainsboro schools are known not just for their academic excellence but also for their commitment to community service and helping out the disadvantaged, whether they live far away or are their fellow students.
In that vein come two recent tales of compassion, both on behalf of members of the school district community.
The Town Center Elementary School PTA just completed a school-wide coin drive to support pediatric cancer research in honor of Zoey Ganesh, a Plainsboro resident who was a kindergartener at Town Center Elementary School who died in November, 2012 (see story, page 7).
And while WW-P school district staff are always willing to help one another, rarely do you hear of a more valuable gift than the one that has been given by Sherri Bailey, the financial secretary at High School South. She is literally giving the gift of life to friend and fellow High School South staff member Leslie Wyers. On March 4, Bailey donated her kidney to Wyers’ daughter Kylie, who suffers from a rare, life-threatening genetic kidney disease.
Wyers, who serves as the district learning disability teacher consultant, and Bailey, have been close friends for years. So when Bailey learned that 8-year-old Kylie needed a new kidney, she offered to be tested to find out if she could be a donor. Surprisingly it turned out that she was a closer match than either of Kylie’s parents; she agreed to be a kidney donor for Kylie.
Kylie’s father, Curtis Wyers, the athletic director at Robbinsville High School, could not donate a kidney because he was not a close enough match to his daughter. And Leslie, who was a much closer match, could not donate a kidney to Kylie either, but for a very different reason. Leslie has already donated one of her kidneys to her son Logan, who developed the disease two years ago. The Wyers have three children: fraternal twins Logan and Drew, age 11, and Kylie. Once Logan was diagnosed, they tested the other two children, and found that Kylie had inherited the disease as well, while Drew did not.
The disease, which afflicts one in a million people, is known as nephronophthisis, and is a rare cystic kidney disease that primarily strikes people of European descent. The cysts, which can start out very small, grow until they cause the loss of all renal function. The only cure is a transplant. The disease can be especially hard to detect in children, who rarely experience serious symptoms until they go into renal failure.
The surgery on Bailey was performed at the University of Pennsylvania, while Kylie’s was performed across the street at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The kidney was literally transported via underground tunnel from Bailey to Kylie.
Although there are always risks associated with surgery, even post-op, both patients appear to be doing well. Kylie’s body did not immediately reject the kidney, and while she has a long road to recovery ahead of her, the prognosis is optimistic. Despite experiencing ups and downs after his transplant surgery, her brother Logan is now thriving.
In a show of solidarity for these two staff members, and especially Kylie, all 10 district schools have hosted or will be hosting special events during the month of March, which is National Kidney Month.
The Wyers family has set up the NephHope foundation, to provide support for others who suffer from the disease, as well as to provide funding for research to help fight the disease. For more information about the Wyers family or to donate, please visit www.nephhope.org.
