Superintendent Donates Kidney In Life-Saving Surgery For Essex Tech Teacher

David Collins, who has taught at Essex Tech and its predecessor, North Shore Tech, since 2000, was diagnosed with a degenerative condition called IgA nephropathy around the time he started teaching there. 

The condition was slowed with drugs, but after the drugs were no longer effective Collins was forced to undergo dialysis in North Andover three times a week, spending three and a half hours there per visit. These visits could only stop after Collins received a new kidney, a process that can take up to seven years. 

To receive a kidney transplant, the donor must be a perfect match across six antigens, including blood and tissue type and antibody compatibility. Collins had many near-matches, but none were perfect except for Essex Tech Superintendent Heidi Riccio.

“I don’t think I hesitated for a second,” Riccio said. “If you can do something to improve someone’s quality of life, you do it.”

Both donor and recipient underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital on Tuesday, Feb. 21, and Collins woke up with a brand-new kidney. 

“After dialysis you feel like you’ve been run over by a truck,” Collins said. “Now I feel like a million bucks."

Collins and Riccio are both expecting a full recovery in four to six weeks. Riccio, who says she is feeling great, is already working remotely. Collins plans to return to teaching full-time in early May. 

"If anyone is thinking of donating a kidney, I strongly recommend they do it, Riccio said. "It is an amazing experience.”

“Heidi is my angel,” Collins said.

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