âIt just feels so good,â she said. âItâs just amazing.â
About four months ago, Flores-Ballesteros donated one of her kidneys to John Brown.
Both are educators, and Brown is the spouse of Flores-Ballesterosâs friend and school district colleague Patrice Brown, the principal of Western Guilford Middle School.
On Sunday they and their spouses and other family and friends participated together in the 5K event.
They wanted to raise awareness about organ donation for everyone, but also especially for people of color. Brown is Black, and Flores-Ballesteros is Hispanic.
Organizers of the race helped them out. Anyone who registered for the Pig Pounder event was given the option to donate money to support organ donation as part of the online registration process. They also sold T-shirts designed by Flores-Ballesterosâ husband Jorge Ballesteros.
GREENSBORO â On Monday the week before Christmas, principal Carla Flores-Ballesteros sat in her office at Allen Jay Elementary School in High Point, making the last preparations for a month or so absence because of her upcoming surgery.Â
Meanwhile, at his home in Greensboro, John Brown sat for what he hoped would be his last dialysis treatment. He was in a buoyant mood, the day before his surgery, as workers took away the dialysis chair in the family s sunroom, where he d received treatment for more than a year because his kidneys weren t working properly.
There are 3,000 people waiting for an organ transplant to save their lives in North Carolina alone, according to donatelifenc.org. Of those, almost 90% are waiting for a kidney.
She called to congratulate her old co-worker, her old co-worker offered to save her husband s life
Patrice Brown and Carla Flores Ballesteros worked together for years. During a phone call, Ballesteros learned Brown s husband still needed a kidney. Author: Maddie Gardner Updated: 11:48 PM EST December 14, 2020
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. When Patrice Brown became the principal at Western Guilford Middle School in 2013, she didn t expect to form the bond she did with her then assistant principal, Carla Flores Ballesteros. Even though Ballesteros became the principal of her own school, Allen Jay Elementary, their bond remained strong.
So when Brown called Ballesteros in September to congratulate her on being nominated for Guilford County s Principal of the year - they kept chatting. Ballesteros asked about Brown s husband, John, who is going through dialysis for renal failure. John was all set for an organ donation but days before the phone call, th