Chelsey Abbott, ’20, donates kidney to school-district colleague Jason Worrall, ‘07
W
hen you know, you know.
Chelsey Abbott had been ready to donate a kidney since she was a teenager, when she first learned a person can live with only one. It was just a matter of waiting for the right time … and the right person. “I wanted to donate then, but a family friend suggested I wait; that I may know someone personally one day that I could help,” said Abbott. After earning her elementary education degree from Missouri Southern in 2020, Abbott began teaching third grade at Carthage’s Steadley Elementary. She was placed in a classroom next to fellow third-grade teacher and mentor Jenny Worrall. She learned that Worrall’s husband, Jason – a 2007 graduate of MSSU who taught special education at Carthage Junior High – suffered from polycystic kidney disease.
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Jason was in his early 20s when his kidneys began to shut down from the hereditary disease. Cysts on his kidneys continued to grow and rupture, leading to blood loss and fatigue. He had multiple blood transfusions, but they were always just a temporary fix. “I was so weak, I could barely get from one end of the hallway to the other,” said Jason. By early 2021, his kidneys were functioning at just 15 percent and he began in-patient dialysis. Eventually he progressed to home therapy, where he was connected to a dialysis machine for eight hours each night as well as several times throughout the day. “It was at this time that my wife put it out there that I was looking for a kidney,” he said. “Watching Jenny and her family go through her husband’s health deteriorating, I thought, ‘I’ve always wanted to donate a kidney, strangely enough,’” said Abbott.
CROSSROADS MAGAZINE
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SPRING 2022
