What’s the ultimate full-circle moment? For Dr. Shawn Moyer, it’s discovering that his high school prom date — the one who saved him from a last-minute scramble for a dance partner — would later save his life.

Thirty-five years after sharing a night of punch and awkward small talk, Elena Hershey stepped up again, this time donating a kidney to Moyer through a medical miracle neither saw coming. The story, equal parts serendipity and selflessness, proves that sometimes the best prom favors arrive decades later.

Moyer, now a chief quality officer at UPMC and practicing family physician, first met Hershey at Dallastown Area High School. As student council president, he’d been dubbed “most likely to succeed”—but even that title couldn’t prevent his original prom date from ditching him for “a better offer.” Enter Hershey, a junior who couldn’t attend the dance without a senior’s invite. “He needed a backup,” Hershey recalled with a laugh.

Elena Hershey and Shawn Moyer. Photo courtesy ABC 27

And, you know, of course, I would love an invite to a prom. What girl wouldn’t? So I was happy to go.”

The pair drifted apart after graduation, but fate reconnected them when Moyer’s health took a dire turn. Diagnosed with kidney failure as a teen, he’d already undergone two transplants — one at 16, another 20 years later courtesy of his wife, Alyssa, via a paired exchange program. When his third kidney began failing, Alyssa couldn’t donate again. Enter Hershey, now a Boulder-based teacher, who’d already decided to donate a kidney anonymously.

“I was glad I heard about [Moyer’s need] so that I could contact him and offer him my kidney,” Hershey said. Though not a biological match, she joined the same paired exchange program Alyssa had used years prior, donating her kidney in summer 2024 to a stranger.

This triggered a chain reaction, securing Moyer a compatible kidney. When the life-changing call finally came, emotions overflowed. “He texted me [the news], and I saw it, and I caught my breath a little bit, and I started to cry a little bit,” Hershey said. “Happy tears, of course.”

Elena Hershey. Photo courtesy ABC 27

Moyer, overwhelmed by her generosity, called the act “remarkable.” But Hershey shrugged off the hero label, emphasizing the ease of the process. “I started driving a couple of days later,” she said. “It was really no problem at all.” She even joked about the recovery: “A few weeks of having to rest and a few days of discomfort to extend someone’s life or save someone’s life? It really is kind of a no-brainer.”

Dr. Manish Gupta, a UPMC Harrisburg transplant surgeon, praised the paired exchange system. “It basically pays itself forward,” Gupta said. “And it’s a great way of getting a kidney the fastest way possible when your intended donor is not a match with you.”

For Moyer, the gift means another 20 years with his family — and a prom story that’s tough to top. As for Hershey? She’s back to biking Colorado’s trails, content knowing her high school backup role had a blockbuster sequel.

Sources: Sunny Skyz | ABC 27