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DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE. ASHLEY: 11 NEWS MEGAN PRINGLE WITH A BACK TO SCHOOL FEEL GOOD STORY INVOLVING THE MAN’S BOSS WHO HELPED GIVE HIM A NEW LEASE ON LIFE. MEGAN THE HALLWAYS AT LINDALE : MIDDLE SCHOOL WILL ONLY BE EMPTY FOR A FEW MORE DAYS. >> I’M REALLY EXCITED. THIS GOING INTO MY SECOND YEAR. MEGAN THIS YEAR IT WILL BE VERY : DIFFERENT FOR GARY SIMMONS A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER’S ASSISTANT. AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR, HE WAS DYING. >> I WAS SUFFERING FROM STAGE 5 RENAL KIDNEY FAILURE AND WAS ON DIALYSIS. MEGAN DIALYSIS THREE DAYS A WEEK : WAS GRUELING BUT SAYS THE NEWS HE NEEDED A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT DEVASTATED HIM. >> BEING A SINGLE PARENT AND A FATHER OF TWO CHILDREN, I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT ABOUT THE FACT THAT THEY WOULD NEVER SEE ME AS THEY GREW UP. MEGAN HIS DOCTORS URGED GARY TO : WRITE A PERSONAL LETTER. >> DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. MEGAN EXPLAINING LIVE DONATION : WAS HIS BEST OPTION. >> I AM HOPING WITH IN MY LARGE GROUP OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT THERE IS SOMEONE WILLING TO BE A WILLING DONOR. MEGAN THAT SOMEONE TURNED OUT TO : BE JUST DOWN THE HALL. HIS BOSS DANELLE CHAPMAN. >> I REALLY THOUGHT THIS GUYS GOT A LOT TO GIVE. HIS KIDS ARE YOUNG. IT DOESN’T SEEM FAIR HE SHOULD HAVE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE BECAUSE HE HAS SO MUCH TO GIVE. MEGAN: EARLIER THIS YEAR SO SHE OFFERED HIM A JOB. NOW SHE WAS OFFERING HIM A KIDNEY. BUT THEY WEREN’T AN EXACT BLOOD TYPE MATCH SO THE TWO WENT INTO WHAT’S CALLED THE KIDNEY PAIRED EXCHANGE PROGRAM. >> THEY PUT US IN A NATIONAL DATABASE AND THEY FOUND A MATCH FOR ME WHICH THEN PUT GARY FURTHER IN THE LIST SO THEY FIND A BLOOD TYPE MATCH FOR HIM. MEGAN IT WORKED. : LAST MONTH AT MEDSTAR GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL TWO DAYS BEFORE HIS BIRTHDAY, GARY GOT A NEW KIDNEY. >> SHE WAS ABLE TO HELP ME AND HELP SOMEONE ELSE BECAUSE SHE DONATED SO I COULD RECEIVE. SHE EXTENDED MY LIFE. MEGAN: ANOTHER TEACHER, MRS. GREEN VOLUNTEERED TO BE HIS CAREGIVER DURING THE PROCESS. NOW GARY SIMMONS CAN’T WAIT TO TAKE THE

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A teacher's assistant in Anne Arundel County is getting ready for the school year to begin. He's learned he has a lot to live for, just as kids head back to class. The hallways at Lindale Middle School will only be empty for a few more days. "I'm really excited. This is going into my second year," special education teacher's assistant Gary Simmons said. This year it will be very different for Simmons."I was suffering from stage 5 renal kidney failure and was on dialysis," Simmons said. Dialysis three days a week was grueling, but Simmons said the news he needed a kidney transplant devastated him."Being a single parent and a father of two children, I immediately thought about the fact that they would never see me as they grew up," Simmons said. His doctors urged him to write a personal letter, explaining live donation was his best option. "I am hoping with in my large group of friends and family that there is someone willing to be a willing donor," Simmons said. That someone turned out to be just down the hall, his boss, Danelle Chapman."I really thought this guy's got a lot to give. His kids are young. It doesn't seem fair. He should have a better quality of life because he has so much to give," Chapman said. Earlier this year she offered him a job -- now she's a kidney donor. Since they weren't an exact blood type match, however the two went into what's called the kidney paired exchange program."They put us in a national database and they found a match for me, which then put Gary further in the list so they find a blood type match for him," Chapman said. It worked. Last month at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, two days before his birthday, Simmons got a new kidney."She was able to help me and help someone else because she donated in a way I could receive. She extended my life," Simmons said. Another teacher, Mrs. Greene, volunteered to be his caregiver during the process.Now Simmons can't wait to take these lessons of kindness with him and pass it on.