‘Secret Santa’: Idaho School Principal Receives Anonymous Donation to Cover Husband’s Kidney Transplant

An anonymous “Secret Santa” shocked an Idaho elementary school principal with a $10,000 donation to help her husband receive a life-saving kidney transplant.

Lilian Pyper, the principal of Inkom Elementary School, travels to Utah every weekend to visit her husband and daughter while her husband awaits his surgery. However, the family has been struggling to make ends meet as gas and food bills stack up on top of the $5,000 insurance premium that must be paid before the kidney procedure takes place.

Pyper even worked a second job as a restaurant server in her spare time, but she still did not have enough money to save her husband’s life.

This changed when an unnamed donor brought her some holiday cheer in the form of several gift cards and a big check.

East Idaho News partnered with a local Secret Santa to give out $1 million in donations to Idahoans in need, and they just knew they had to help Pyper when they caught wind of her story.

The news’s camera crew surprised Pyper at Inkom Elementary with the gift of a lifetime.

Thinking she was about to speak with her fellow faculty members, Pyper stepped out of an office and was greeted by local reporter Nate Eaton, who shocked her when he presented her with a gift-wrapped box.

Pyper first pulled out $2,000 worth of gas gift cards and $3,000 worth of grocery gift cards.

“Oh my Gosh… oh my gosh,” the principal said, clearly at a loss for words. “Wow, I don’t even know what to say, thank you… thank you!”

She even felt unworthy of the gift, saying, “This is… this should be going to someone else.”

But that was not all. 

Eaton told her to look at the last piece of the present, which was a cashier’s check for $5,000 — the exact amount she needed to pay for her husband’s surgery.

“That’s enough to put down for my husband’s kidney,” she said, tearfully holding the life-changing gift.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she cried.

East Idaho News says Pyper “is one of the most amazing, kindhearted humans you’ll ever meet.”

“She’s the type of person [who] will give everything she has and expect nothing in return, even when she’s struggling. She doesn’t like to ask for help,” Eaton wrote.

Pyper has now gotten the help she needs without even having to ask.