The assistant principal of Smith Middle School said he’s grateful for the community support he’s received since being diagnosed with end-stage renal disease.

The support has included fundraising for a kidney transplant next year.

“It’s almost like when you’re trying to run in very humid weather,” says Assistant Principal Stephon Goode. “You know, it’s like that all the time – very labored breathing. And then, just muscle fatigue. You know, you feel like you’ve run a marathon after walking up and down the hall one time.”

A huge part of Smith Middle School Assistant Principal Stephon Goode’s job involves visiting classrooms, and observing hallway activity. It’s become a lot harder lately.

A few years ago, Smith Middle School Assistant Principal Stephon Goode was diagnosed with kidney function at around 28 percent.

He began feeling the symptoms he described about two years ago.

“I found out I had tubular necrosis,” said Goode. “The tubes that lead to the kidneys had started to die, and they couldn’t understand why.”

He has other health issues, including diabetes, and he doesn’t rule that out as a contributing factor.

But the onset of the disease happened so fast, and the fluctuation of kidney function was so erratic, that doctors were baffled, according to Goode. He’s been treated by 15 doctors, so far.

“Right now, we’re at about 16 percent kidney function,” said Goode, “and pretty close to the doctors wanting to do dialysis.”

Now 41, he hopes to get a transplant before dialysis becomes necessary. With eight siblings, his chances for finding a donor were pretty good. And sure enough, his oldest sister Donna Ledbetter tested as a match.

He and his wife, Brenda Goode, have two daughters, ages 17 and 2. Goode said he’s not scared so much for himself, but mostly for them.

“I’m really close with my daughters,” said Goode, “and we spend tons of time together. And, you know, as a parent, you don’t ever want them to hurt. You don’t want them to feel fearful. You want to try to keep them from as much of that stuff as possible.

“And it’s kind of a scary situation, in a lot of ways. You know, the little one doesn’t really understand everything. She’s two. But what she’s going to understand is that, pretty much, for almost two months, she won’t get to climb up on me, or I won’t be able to pick her up. You know – those kinds of things.”

Still, his family lifts his spirits. And so does that extended family at Smith Middle School, including the staff, as well as hundreds of his “other kids.”

“Yeah, I have a lot of kids, I really do,” said Goode. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. You know, I found my niche. And this is where I think I make the biggest impact.

“And the kids here are awesome. The staff is awesome. It’s just a great place to be.”

The school’s football team had its final game a few weeks ago, against McDougle. The opposing coaches got together before the game and decided to dedicate the game to fundraising for Goode’s upcoming surgery, which will likely happen in June, after his older daughter graduates from Chapel Hill High.

“They had food trucks that came out,” said Goode. “They had concessions. They did a bake sale. They also did a really fun activity at halftime, where a lot of our teachers volunteered to get a pie in the face.”

Goode said that the positive side of all this is seeing the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools community come together to supprt him, and he’s grateful.

His surgery will cost between $100,000 and $180,000. He’s also looking at a lifetime of expensive medication, and a lot of post-surgery doctor visits.

Insurance will pay for a lot of it, but not all. So, he took the advice of friends and started a GoFundMe page, with a goal of raising $25,000.

He’s raised $18,633 as of Monday.

If you’d like to help out Smith Middle School Assistant Principal Stephon Goode with his medical expenses,  you can find out more on his GoFundMe page.