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Damien Lanning: A special needs foster child who found his "forever" home.
2 years ago, at age-13, Damien of Aurora, Colorado was suffering from kidney disease, and regularly needed dialysis.
Dialysis is a debilitating process requiring 3 to 4 hours at a time, to clean his blood and keep him alive.
As his health deteriorated, Damien desperately needed a transplant and his needs became too much for the foster care system.
As the search for a kidney continued, Damien was placed in a hospital for treatment. But without a stable home to return to after surgery, getting a transplant became even harder.
Then fate dramatically intervened:
(Story continues from "Read More")
When Damien's math teacher Finn Lanning learned how desperate Damien's situation was, he got involved.
"It hit me like a ton of bricks," Finn told Steve Hartman of CBS News.
"I mean, you just can't sit across from somebody you care about and hear them say something like that and know that you have room to help."
So, Finn became Damien's foster father.
This pleased Damien but having been the victim of foster parents who had lost interest in him, he was guarded.
"It's kind of bad thinking about that," he told Steve Hartman with tears in his eyes.
"But some people actually do that. Like, they'll be happy with you one day and then just kick you out the next."
But in the 2-years that have passed, Damien, now 15 received a kidney transplant, became much healthier and last year became Finn's son, thru adoption.
"It's like a dream come true," said Damien, who now has a forever home. And a dream come true for Finn who now has a son.
Editor's Note: To learn more, https://www.cbsnews.com
In the next KazanToday: An 8-year-old boy who struggled valiantly to save his 4-month-old puppy
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