We all know that teachers go above and beyond every day for their students.

Often underpaid and often underappreciated, they are the unsung heroes that help keep our children safe each day.

One Ohio math teacher took that duty so seriously, that when he found out a student was in dire need of a kidney – he decided to donate his to the teen.

The local news played on the TV, and Eddie McCarthy saw one of his students – Roman McCormick. He stopped to watch, he said, as Roman’s mom, Jamie, pleaded for anyone who could get tested, to see if they would be a match for her son.

Roman McCormick and his teacher, Eddie McCarthy pose together on the day of Roman’s kidney transplant. Photo courtesy of Michigan Medicine

Roman, his parents said, had Stage 4 kidney disease, and none of his relatives were a match for donation. The 15-year-old had been born with branchiootorenal syndrome, which can cause kidney disease and can also lead to loss of hearing.

Without a donor, his parents told reporters, Roman would likely need dialysis for 5 hours, three days per week. The waiting list for a donor kidney from someone who had died could be at least three to five years, if Roman could survive that long.

When his kidney function dropped to 20 percent in junior high, we knew it was time for him to get a new kidney,” his father, Dan McCormick said.

McCarthy said he remembered Roman as a good student, who was quiet.

“He always turned his work in on time, and he was definitely one of my best students,” McCarthy said. “But I didn’t realize he’d been going through something this serious.”

A father of two young kids, McCarthy knew he had to help. So he got a blood test to see if he would be a match. After finding out he shared an O positive blood type with Roman, he went for more testing. 

“I talked it over with my wife, Mindy, and she was a little surprised, but she was also supportive of me pursuing it and doing more tests,” McCarthy said.

The container holding Eddie McCarthy’s kidney he donated to his student. Photo courtesy of Michigan Medicine

“I haven’t done the math, but I’m glad the odds worked out,” McCarthy said. “A little bit of pain was something I decided I could endure to prevent a kid from going on dialysis or possibly dying.”

The phone call to Roman’s parents was life-changing.

“I talked to Roman’s dad first and told him, ‘You guys have a donor — it’s Roman’s geometry teacher,” McCarthy said, referring to himself. “Then I called his mom. I’d have to say they were both a little shocked.”

Roman said he was shocked.

“He’s a cool teacher — he sometimes gets out his guitar and plays it for us,” Roman said.

But I wasn’t expecting him to donate a kidney after I got decent grades in his class.”

On July 19th, McCarthy’s kidney was successfully removed and transplanted into Roman.

Surgeons work to give Roman McCormick a kidney that was donated by his Math teacher. Photo courtesy of Michigan Medicine

Both have been released from the hospital, in great condition.

“It couldn’t have gone better — he’s thriving, and his new kidney is functioning like a Mercedes convertible,” Roman’s surgeon, Michael Englesbe said. “He’s pretty much back to being a normal 15-year-old kid.”

For McCarthy, being able to see Roman in school, thriving was going to be amazing.

“It will be pretty crazy when I watch him walk by,” he said. “I’ll be able to say, ‘There goes my kidney.’”

Watch the amazing sacrifice by Roman’s teacher, below.

Sources: Good Morning America | NYPost