When a history teacher ran out of sick days to use in order to take care of his cancer-stricken 16-month-old daughter, the compassion of his fellow teachers came to the rescue.
David Green is a history teacher at The Mae Jemison High School in Huntsville, Alabama, and is the father of a beautiful baby girl named Kinsley. Kinsley was diagnosed with with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was just 10-months-old and has been going through treatment since then. Doctors are hoping that within two years of treatment she can beat the disease.
Part of little Kinsley’s treatment includes regularly going to a medical center which is 100 miles away from home, and she needs her father to be there with her when he can. When David ran out of sick days to take in order to care for his daughter, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. David gets only one available sick day per month, which is not enough for anyone who actually gets sick or needs to care for a family member who does.
David and his wife, Megan Green, calculated that he needed 40 days to help care for Kinsley. Without any other options, his wife made a post on Facebook to see if some of his fellow teachers were willing to donate one sick day to help them.
“David is officially out of sick days at work,” their post read. “We want him to continue to be able to be with us at the hospital while Kinsley is getting Chemotherapy so if you are a teacher in the State of Alabama and are in a position to donate a sick day we would greatly appreciate it! Kinsley is the biggest daddy’s girl and needs him to be here as often as he can, so she would be so thankful for any donated days so she can spend time with her Daddy.”
“Kinsley will be in treatment for Leukemia through the end of the summer and maybe even into the beginning of the school year next year. So we still have a long road ahead! Any help would be so appreciated.
David Jeffrey Green
Huntsville City Schools
Mae Jemison High School”
Once his fellow educators heard of their dire situation, they beautifully decided to work together and donate 100 of their own combined personal sick days so that David could use them to care for and be with Kinsley.
“We were blown away with the response that we received with the sick days. We were hoping to get a couple days so he could be here once a week,” Megan Green, Kinsley’s mother said. “It is a huge blessing and we can’t wait until we are in the position to give back and help others.”
Wilma DeYampert, who is an assistant principal at another school in the same district as David saw the post on Facebook and made a beautiful gesture to donate two of her own sick days to help. She herself was recently diagnosed with cancer, so it was all she could afford to give.
“I could not imagine having a child and being away from the child,” Wilma explained. “So, I just thought it was the right thing to do. My mom always said, ‘You don’t have to be rich to bless someone.'”
Another teacher, Anna Kachelman said, “You want to send words of encouragement, you want to do something to help, but this was a real physical way that we could help him and his family.”
The combination of minimal sick days and low wages make it nearly impossible for our beloved teachers to afford time off during unpredictable situations or emergencies. Nearly half of all teachers lack access to retirement benefits as well. Education is so very important as it guides and is responsible for helping to shape the lives and ideas of our children. It’s critical that our teachers are well provided for and taken care of.
News of Kinsley’s condition began to circulate online and people wanted a way to be of further help, so David and Megan setup a gofundme to help pay for Kinsley’s medical costs. Megan wrote:
“ETA: We are overwhelmed with the amount of shares this post has had! Thank you for sharing! While sick days remain our priority at this time so we can be together many have asked other ways to help, so i am including other ways to help our family if you aren’t a public school employee below:”
https://www.gofundme.com/kinsleyskickingcancer
Kind people from around the world generously donated to Kinsley’s gofundme and blew past their initial asking amount of $25,000.
Their story is a beautiful example of how loving and kind the hearts of teachers and people around the world truly are.
You are Loved.
See Also: An Anonymous Donor Pledged £150,000 For His Leukemia Treatment
