Texas teacher donates kidney to save life of toddler she did not know

Baer Sobieralski of Texas was born with a rare genetic condition and was in kidney failure before his first birthday.

With no family member fit to donate a kidney, Baer was placed on a waitlist. But time was running out.

So the family went to the public for help.

"If we had a living donor, ready to go, we could go tomorrow," Baer's father, Keith Sobieralski, told CBS' Austin affiliate KEYE-TV in June of last year.

Seeing their plea, Jane Callahan made a life-changing call, offering one of her kidneys to a child she did not know.

"I just knew if I was going to be tested that I would be a match," Callahan told CBS News.

A five-hour transplant surgery took place in December at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Then came the agonizing wait before the family learned the surgery had been a success.

"Your baby did really well," the nurse told the Sobieralskis after the surgery. "Everything's great."

Callahan, the woman who had made it possible, is a third-grade teacher and a single mother with two children of her own. She told Baer's mom, Mallory Sobieralski, that she would love to meet.

"It was one of the most profound moments of my life," Mallory said.

Now age 2, Baer is recovering, and Callahan also says she feels great.

Meanwhile, two families have become one.

"You get flooded with negative things all the time in the world, and very often there are beautiful things that are out there, and you just have to choose to look at them," Keith said.

In:
• Texas
• kidney donation

Janet Shamlian

Janet Shamlian is a CBS News correspondent based in Houston, Texas. Shamlian's reporting is featured on all CBS News broadcasts and platforms including "CBS Mornings," the "CBS Evening News" and the CBS News Streaming Network, CBS News' premier 24/7 anchored streaming news service.

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