Finn Lanning was surprised when one of his new students, a "studious and smart and funny" 12-year-old named Damien, came up to him before Thanksgiving in 2018 and said he wouldn't be returning after the holiday break.
Lanning is a math and science teacher at AXL Academy in Aurora, Colorado. Damien told him that he has an autoimmune diseases called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which affects his kidneys. He was in foster care, but because of his medical needs, they couldn't find the right placement for him, and he was going to have to move into the hospital. Soon after, his kidneys shut down, and he had to have dialysis treatments for 12 hours every day.
Lanning visited Damien once a week, and was stunned when he learned that Damien needed a kidney transplant, but without stable housing, wasn't eligible to be on the donation list. It didn't matter to Lanning that he had no experience as a parent — he had to be there for Damien. He applied to be his foster father, and last March, was approved. "I'd really thought a lot about this decision," Lanning told People. "I didn't want to be another person in a long line who'd made a commitment to him and then couldn't keep it. I wanted him to trust me and feel comfortable."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Damien was put on the list, and in June, underwent a kidney transplant. Because of complications with his autoimmune disease, he had to go through two months of intense treatments, but has been in remission since September. Damien went back to school in August, and enjoys swimming, playing sports, and cooking with Lanning. "You kind of lose hope after awhile when you're living in the hospital," he told People. "But now I can settle in, go to school, make friends, and live a good life." Seeing the world through Damien's eyes has brought a new joy to Lanning, who "never expected this to be my life, but I'm so happy it is. We're in it together." Watch a video of the pair from 2019 below. Catherine Garcia
-
EPA: A bonfire of climate change regulationsFeature The Environmental Protection Agency wants to roll back its 'endangerment finding,' a ruling that lets the agency regulate carbon emissions
-
Trump: Redesigning the White HouseFeature Donald Trump unveiled a $200 million plan to build a White House ballroom
-
Texas gerrymander battle spreads to other statesFeature If Texas adopts its new electoral map, blue states plan to retaliate with Democrat-favored districts
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
