A co-worker, a kidney and a miracle: Durham educators connected for life

KNIGHTDALE, N.C. (WTVD) -- On a warm afternoon on their back porch in Knightdale, Undrea and Vivianease Major sit laughing with the man they now say will be part of their family forever.

Sixteen months ago, they barely knew Greg Goble.

Today, Vivianease -- who goes by Viv -- calls him nothing short of a miracle.

"Greg was the miracle that Dre and I had prayed for," she said.

Viv and Greg are both assistant principals at Sherwood Githens Middle School in Durham. She leads the eighth grade; he leads the seventh.

Greg had only recently joined the staff when he began hearing Viv mention during Monday morning leadership meetings that her husband, Dre, was in desperate need of a kidney transplant.

The idea came quietly -- and quickly.

One morning after a meeting, Greg followed Viv to her office and closed the door.

"I said, 'I don't know what goes into being a match, but what would you think of me making an inquiry?'" Greg recalled.

Viv was stunned.

"He just said it so candidly - 'I'd donate him my kidney,'" she said, laughing at the memory. "And I said, 'Huh?!'"

For Greg, the decision was instinctive.

"It was in my heart to make the offer," he said. "And that kind of set us on a journey."

It's a journey that had already taken Dre through years of setbacks.

His health struggles began five years ago with swelling, then progressed to congestive heart failure and eventually stage 4 kidney failure. His case was so complex he had been denied a spot on two transplant lists.

So, when Viv told him a coworker -- someone Dre had never really met -- wanted to donate a kidney, he kept his expectations in check.

"I think initially I was just like, really?!" he said.

Still, his gratitude was immediate.

"I was very mindful of making sure you tell him I said thank you. Making sure he knew I was appreciative, even for the thought."

After years of disappointment, hope came carefully.

"If it happens," he told himself, "then it's meant to be."

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For the next 15 months, a team at UNC Health evaluated both men, navigating insurance approvals and preparing them for surgery. The process was lengthy and, at times, frustrating -- especially for Greg, who had committed from the moment he made the offer.

When doctors finally confirmed he was a match, Greg couldn't wait to share the news.

The surgery was scheduled for April 7.

When Greg and Dre arrived at the hospital that morning, it was only the second time they had ever met in person.

Greg was about to give up a kidney. But in ways he didn't anticipate, he said the experience gave something back.

"I think I needed this as much as maybe Dre needed the kidney," Greg said. "I needed to prove to myself there was good in the world. That there was generosity in this world. And I had the ability to make a difference."

For Viv, Greg's presence in their lives feels like something more than coincidence. Long before she knew how her husband would be healed, she said she believed it would happen.

"I remember just maybe hearing a still small voice saying, 'I'm going to heal him. I'm gonna heal him,'" she said. "I didn't know how that was going to happen. But I trusted that it was going to happen. And here we are."

Less than a month after the surgery, Dre is back home and feeling better than he has in years. Greg says the transformation has gone beyond the physical.

"I feel like a million bucks," he said. "I'm talking about my health, my spiritual health. I feel amazing."

For Dre, the takeaway is simple.

"Love is real," he said. "And there is still hope."

Not long ago, they were coworkers and strangers.

Now, on a quiet back porch in Knightdale, they're something more - bound by a simple act of generosity that changed all of their lives.

"He's my brother for life," Viv said, smiling. "He's my brother."