A Precious Gift

Not often enough do we hear stories of heroic deeds, so when someone comes along and restores our faith in humanity, it is important to share the good news with the world.

This story is about two colleagues and friends, Shirley Chan and Alexandria “Alex” Fabbro. Shirley and Alex are special education teachers at Rio Vista Elementary School in El Monte, California.

Shirley has been teaching children with special needs for the last 10 years and Alex has been on a journey as a general education teacher, a high school math teacher and now has found her calling as a teacher for children with special needs, namely autism.

Alex has been teaching at Rio Vista for the past three years. As you will see, these two friends share more than their passion for helping students with special needs.

When Shirley was 15 years old, she was diagnosed with Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems — including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.

Unfortunately, Shirley’s Lupus has compromised her kidneys to the point where she is now undergoing lifesaving daily dialysis. It has severely impacted her quality of life. A machine filters wastes, salts and

fluid from her blood because Shirley’s kidneys are no longer healthy enough to do this work effectively.

A kidney transplant is the only way for Shirley to be able to live independently without being tethered

to her dialysis equipment. In September 2018 another colleague and friend of Shirley’s, Betty Silva, sent out a letter to the staff at

Rio Vista Elementary School to see if anyone would be interested in becoming a kidney donor. When Alex received Betty’s plea for a kidney donor, Alex did not hesitate and gave Shirley the lifesaving news, that she would gladly donate a kidney and help save her life.

Over the last several months, Alex has endured multiple medical exams and tests to see if she is a perfect match for Shirley. If Alex and Shirley are not compatible, Alex has volunteered her kidney in exchange for one that is compatible with Shirley’s anatomy. Shirley has been on the kidney donor list at the Scripps Memorial Hospital for the last few years. Now Shirley and Alex are working closely with their medical teams of experts to plan the final steps of the transplant.

In the last few weeks, Alex and Shirley are approved donor matches and Alex will be donating her kidney directly to Shirley. Surgery is scheduled for April 23, 2019.

Alex is selflessly saving the life of our dear friend and colleague, Shirley Chan. This type of sacrifice and genuine love and compassion for another person speaks volumes to her character.

As a staff member at Rio Vista Elementary School, I can speak for everyone when I say that Alex Fabbro is our hero!