A Boston school custodian’s decision to donate a kidney to a stranger helped give his colleague’s younger brother a second chance at life. Andrew Allen, 53, worked night shifts at Boston Arts Academy, where he became friends with geometry teacher Tom Thermidor. When Thermidor revealed that his younger brother, Thomas, was suffering from stage 5 kidney failure and needed a transplant, Allen volunteered to become a donor. Although Allen’s kidney was not a direct match for Thomas, he proceeded with the donation through a kidney-exchange programme. His kidney went to another patient, helping Thomas receive a compatible organ from an anonymous donor. More than a year after their surgeries, both men were doing well, and Allen’s extraordinary gesture earned him recognition as an unsung hero.
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