A New York woman who once despised her fifth-grade teacher went on to save his life decades later by donating a kidney. Montana Miller, 55, of Long Island, dreaded Mitchell Grosky's reading class at The Bromfield School in Harvard, Massachusetts, when she was 10 years old. She often challenged her teacher, who was relatively new to teaching, as she found his assignments too easy.
From Student to Donor
Miller told the Boston Globe, 'I absolutely could not stand him. It was a battle of the minds, a battle of wills.' She would go on to earn a PhD in folklore and mythology, try skydiving, attend circus school, perform in a circus, and become a teacher herself before reconnecting with Grosky, now 74, on Facebook around 2012.
Grosky sent his former student a message, expressing amazement at all she had accomplished since fifth grade. Upon viewing his page, Miller realized her most hated teacher shared similar political values and was an accomplished landscape and nature photographer. 'So we became friends,' Miller told The Globe.
Reconnection and Friendship
Grosky attended Miller's events and even joined some of her classes via Zoom. She also dined with his family. They kept up with each other's lives through social media, where Miller learned Grosky was suffering from kidney disease and desperately needed a new organ last summer.
In a long Facebook post last August, Grosky explained he was eligible for a kidney transplant and would eventually need dialysis, which he would have to undergo for the rest of his life or until a transplant, which could take four to seven years. 'The alternative is to find a living donor - someone who is willing to donate one of their two kidneys to me. This would be an incredible gift to me - the gift of life,' he wrote. Many of the 188 commenters expressed sympathy and offered prayers.
A Life-Saving Decision
The comments angered Miller, who felt people should offer to get tested as donors. So she did exactly that, despite having a different blood type, which meant a low chance of being a match. 'I wanted to help Mitch so badly that it became almost painful,' she told The Globe. In December, while Grosky and his wife Anne were on a European cruise, Miller received her test results: She was a match. 'Mitch - WE ARE A MATCH!!!!' she texted him. 'You are one of the most extraordinary, giving, loving people I have ever had the great privilege of knowing,' he responded.
Successful Transplant
Last month, the two were wheeled into adjoining surgery rooms at UMass Memorial Medical Center, where Miller's right kidney was transplanted into Grosky. The transplant was successful, and Grosky's body accepted the organ. Both are recovering, though painfully. Grosky expressed profound gratitude for his 'awesome' former student's donation. 'I continue to be absolutely astounded and almost perplexed by the fact that someone like Montana would allow some surgeon to cut through layers of skin and muscle, and take out an organ to donate to me. And I often feel very much unworthy of that,' he told The Globe.
