They say teaching is a selfless profession, but perhaps, never to this extreme.
Two teachers at Crow Island Elementary in Winnetka are forever bonded.
When Allie Szczecinski's husband, Brad, entered kidney failure and desperately needed a transplant, art teacher Lillian Johnston didn't hesitate to test if she was maybe a match.
"Lillian was one of the first people who did it, and I remember coming to school the next day. And she said, 'Allie, I filled out that form.' And I was like, 'thank you so much,' not knowing what that was going to mean," said Szczecinski, a social emotional learning teacher.
"About 11 years ago, I was in a situation where I almost lost my life. And I remember thinking about my kids growing up without a mom, and so that's where my mind went," art teacher Johnston said.
Johnston was a perfect match, and donated her kidney just days before the start of this school year.
"I just knew. The moment I filled out the form, I knew it was going to be me. I just had a really strong feeling like I was meant to do this," Johnston said.
"It's like such a relief because even though it had only been a few months that we've been looking, it was getting down to the deadline for us," Brad Szczecinski said.
Johnston had never met Brad Szczecinski before agreeing to the surgery.
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"Classic Lillian is actually what her husband said. It's classic Lillian," Allie Szczecinski said. "And being a teacher in general is sort of a different breed of person. So, was it surprising to me? No."
"I feel like my whole life has been leading to this moment," Johnston said. "People kept asking me, 'are you scared?' And I never felt scared. I always felt calm about it, excited."
The story is incredible on its own, but the procedure itself was also monumental, as Brad Szczecinski underwent an awake kidney transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"What it is is basically not having to intubate or put somebody under general anesthesia for a kidney transplant. Which is pretty remarkable given that we're the only place in the country that's doing this and the only place globally that's ever done it or we have somebody discharged within 24 hours," said Dr. Satish Nadig, chief of transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Brad Szczecinski's hospital stay was brief, and both patients are doing great.
"It's a new lease on life; that's for sure," Brad Szczecinski said. "Our daughter is 5 1/2; our son is 2 1/2. We don't want them to go through life without a dad."
This makes a difference for generations.
"You can't get through life by yourself; you need to lean on people, and this is another example of that," Johnston said.
"I'm just really grateful, really grateful," Allie Szczecinski said.