When you’re young, the people nearest you are the ones that help guide you though life. And those people can often include your teachers.

Teachers go above and beyond all the time. And it isn’t always what they do in the classroom that matters the most – it’s also the lessons they teach outside of school that can be the most important things you learn.

When second grade teacher, Jodi Schmidt found a Facebook post that was pleading for help finding a kidney for one of her students, she didn’t hesitate to see if she was a match.

Natasha Fuller was born with prune belly syndrome. The illness causes kidney issues, and for Natasha, long-term dialysis. 

Before the Facebook post, Schmidt said she did not know that Natasha’s illness was so dire. Doctors had just told the family that Natasha would die if she was unable to get the transplant. Frequent infections kept knocking the child off the top of the transplant list, putting her back at the bottom. She had run out of time. 

Eight-year-old Natasha Fuller was close to death and in need of a kidney transplant. Photo from YouTube.

Once Schmidt saw the story about Natasha, she said her decision was made. “I didn’t think anything of it,” Schmidt said to CNN. “Then it totally just hit me, and I told myself I’m going to get tested for it.” And just like that, she learned she was a match.

Natasha’s grandmother, Chris Burleton, told reporters that the little girl had never let the illness define her.

She is happy and sassy, and she just wants to lead a normal life, and do things like go swimming.”

The child had moved to Wisconsin to live with her grandparents and be closer to her treatments.

After all the tests showed she was a perfect match, Schmidt checked to see if she could miss work to heal from the surgery. She also talked to the hospital to make sure only Natasha would get her kidney.

Then the teacher set up an appointment with Burleton at the school. “We gave her a gift box, and under the tissue paper was a card with the words: ‘It’s a match,’” Schmidt said.

Jodi Schmidt with a gift that would change her student’s life. Photo from YouTube.

“I have had some really good days in my life, and that was probably one of the best,” Schmidt said about telling the family of her decision. “I think that life takes us on very different paths, and I now have no doubt I was brought to (Wisconsin) for a reason.”

Once the match was confirmed, doctors were able to do the transplant. The pair, family members said, held hands after the surgery. “She’s part of my family. I love her a lot,” Natasha said to the news outlet.

Before gaining a new kidney, Natasha was limited in what she could do. She was unable to go swimming during the summer, and had to watch what she ate all the time so her condition didn’t get even worse. 

But now, she has been to her first pool party and has gotten to eat chocolate, which she enjoys. “I do like chocolate M&Ms and KitKats. KitKats are my favorite,” she said.

Schmidt says the relief of seeing the girl blossom into a healthy child has been inspiring. “It helped me knowing that she truly is healed and she’ll survive and get many, many good years from my kidney,” she said.

For the two, what started as a simple teacher/student relationship has now become a bond that will never be broken.

Sources: CNN | Upworthy | FDL Reporter