School Employees Donated Their Sick Days To Teacher Who Ran Out As He Battled Cancer

Dec 19, 2018 by apost team

Robert Goodman is a public school teacher who found out he was facing cancer of the colon.

Facing cancer is bad enough for anyone. However, Robert found out just how frustrating it could be when he started to go in for chemotherapy and surgery. Both took up all of his official paid sick days that the school provided, and he realized that he would need about 20 more days in order to continue his chemotherapy treatment.

Unfortunately, he simply did not have that many days left.

Luckily, some heartwarming individuals were ready to be angels to Robert. What happened next was amazing for everyone involved.

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Robert posted on Facebook that he was having trouble getting the catastrophic leave of absence that he needed from the school. He decided that he was going to ask for help from the teachers that he worked with to get the time off that he needed.

He was hopeful that some of the teachers could donate their own sick days to him before he had to come back to work.

Robert posted the plea for help, along with a selfie, right from his bed at Tomsich Health and Medical Center. It only took four days to gather the sick days he needed- and more!

Robert, who is 56-years-old, told CNN that a grand total of 75 sick days were transferred to him. Teachers, administrators, staff members, and even the lunchroom workers were eager to help after they heard his desperate plea.

He said that he could not believe how fast it all actually happened. He also felt guilty accepting the days as he believes there are others who have worse problems than he does.

Robert has been a history teacher at the high school for about 23 years. In April, he was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer. He began to document his scary journey on Facebook. He said that it was an easy way to tell people how he was feeling. He also hoped it could inspire others who were going through something similar.

The response to his plea for help was crazy. However, he said that he wasn’t surprised that so many teachers were willing to help. He also said that he received a lot of support from his students. They shared many stories of the ways he has influenced them in a positive way over the years.

He stated that it was all a great reminder of why he chose to teach as a profession.

Classes started back on August 13th, but Robert isn’t back yet. He is continuing his fight against cancer and is working on his singer-songwriting skills as he heals. He is hopeful that his experience with cancer will inspire other people to do good in the world.

We hope Robert has a very speedy recovery! Kudos to the teachers and staff who stepped up to help a fellow employee and friend! Did this story touch your heart? Leave us a comment and make sure to pass this on to others!