Strangers Donate Sick Days To Cancer-Stricken Teacher In California


Strangers were able to donate their sick days to Carol Clark, a California teacher who was diagnosed with cancer.

According to FOX News, Clark nearly missed the entire 2013 school year because of her cancer treatments, and some unforeseen complications. The 56-year-old was a teacher for 17 years and had a lot of time built up, but it wasn’t enough. She was forced to use all of her vacation days, plus an additional 120 sick days that she had accumulated over the years.

“I lost pay, I lost my medical benefits, I lost all that stuff,” she said, as her paid time off ran out and she was still not well enough to return to work.

Carol’s husband, Dave Clark, is also a teacher at the Jaime Escalante Elementary School in Cudhay, California. Feeling helpless, Dave decided to check into other options. While doing research, he found out about the “Catastrophic Illness Donation Program,” which allows other teachers to donate up to 20 of their own sick days to help out a fellow teacher in need. While there was no guarantee that people would help the Clarks out, they were both soon overwhelmed by the support they received, much of it from people they had never even met.

“Dave emailed their circle of friends letting them know about the program, and word quickly spread through the district. In total, Carol received more than 150 donated sick days from friends and strangers.”

Strangers who donated sick days really helped Carol because she was able to recover without the additional stress of losing money. Carol is now in remission. According to ABC News, Carol is back in her sixth grade classroom this year, excited to get back to what she loves: teaching children.

“Other people ask me ‘What do you say to people who donate?’ I don’t know what to say to them. I say thank you. But that doesn’t seem like enough. It was really a tremendous thing that they did.”

Carol Clark sent out an email to those who donated their sick days to her. She tried to thank her co-workers during a staff meeting but was too “choked up” to speak.

There have been quite a few “feel good” stories in the news lately. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, a video of a young boy hearing for the first time went viral earlier this week. The baby was wearing hearing aids, and for the very first time, he was able to hear voices… and his reaction was priceless.

[Photo courtesy of ABC News]

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