Matawan Man Donates His Kidney To Co-Worker In Need

MATAWAN, NJ — A Matawan man who works as a teacher at Saint Leo the Great school in Middletown donated his kidney to a fellow teacher.

And Michael "Mike" Daneman, 33, says he did it because his mother died when she was the same age as his colleague: 36.

"When I heard she was looking for a kidney donor, I thought about it for one day, honestly," he said. "I lost my mom when I was 5 years old (to cancer) and she has a daughter who is 5. My first immediate thought was: These kids can't lose their mom."

Daneman and the woman who received his kidney, Lauren Crupi, 37, are both teachers at Saint Leo the Great Catholic school in Lincroft. He teaches computer science and she language arts.

For the past 15 years, Crupi, a married mom of two young children, has been battling a rare and deadly genetic kidney disease. She discovered she had the disease when she was 25, but it got worse in the past year: She was told last winter she would be on dialysis within a year.

"I just very slowly declined," she shared. "I really thought I would go on dialysis and wait my turn. I don't want to disrupt anyone. My husband and doctor nearly fell over when I said that. They told me if I got a living donor, my life expectancy would be much longer. So I agreed to start the search (for a donor)."

"She hid it very well. She's a very positive person, very upbeat," said Daneman, who would see her in school. "But I could tell she was getting exhausted. She would get winded coming up the stairs; she was always cold."

It was in January of 2023 that Crupi's husband made her struggle public and posted on Facebook that his wife needed a donor. Word spread through the tight-knit Catholic school community, and through all of Middletown. Daneman was one of the first people to volunteer right away. Several other people Crupi knew also volunteered, but they were not a match.

All of Daneman's bloodwork showed that he would be a positive match. The transplant surgery was done June 1 at New York Presbyterian.

Daneman recovered pretty quickly, but Crupi took more time, she said. She spent the summer recuperating. But this September both are back teaching at Saint Leo's.

"I feel amazing now," she said. "I feel like a brand-new person. It is such a gradual decline with this kidney disease that I did not realize how sick I had gotten."

Crupi said she thinks the entire thing was "part of God's plan."

"I don't think there were any coincidences. I only switched to teach at Saint Leo's so I could be close to my kids once they started going there. And it turns out my donor was there waiting for me. I think this was God's plan."

Daneman said he "feels great" after donating his kidney, and so far the main lifestyle change is he cannot take non-steroid anti-inflammatories, which include many common medicines such as Advil.

"I do have to protect myself because I only have one kidney. So there goes my NFL career," joked the Matawan resident. "I have no regrets at all. Working with her every day and seeing her be able to continue being the wonderful teacher she is — it makes it all worth it. And I can see her be there for her kids' events that my mom wasn't able to be at."