Southside ISD Teacher Loses 150LBS For a Good Cause

Menchaca Early Childhood Center kindergarten teacher Pamela Davis is 5’2″ tall and weighed 291 pounds exactly one year ago. Today, Davis is down 150 pounds. She says she hasn’t been this weight since she was nine-years-old. “I was always chubby,” Davis said. “It runs in my family.”

Her journey to losing weight began in March 2018 when her daughter took a picture of her wearing a t-shirt of her beloved San Antonio Spurs. Davis, you see, is an avid Spurs fan. She once stood in line for 26 hours just to meet then-Spurs point guard Tony Parker. However, seeing the picture her daughter took changed her life.

“I looked at that picture and I was disgusted with what I saw,” said Davis.

Thus, Davis began another journey into losing weight. She had done so throughout her life. Then, something happened when she lost 80 pounds. She was about to give up and begin eating junk food again.

At about the same time Davis was on Facebook and saw that her high school acquaintance, Jennifer Trevino, both 39, posted her need for a kidney donor. Davis responded and tested as a positive kidney donor match for Trevino.

That moment became the kindergarten teacher’s turning point. Doctors told Davis she had to lose more weight if she wanted to be a kidney donor. She began actively working out and watching what she ate. All the time, thinking about Trevino’s condition.

“I had to keep working out. I knew Jennifer wasn’t well enough. But I was and so I kept going,” she said.

By Christmas 2018, Davis had lost enough weight to be a kidney donor. Doctors transplanted Davis’ kidney into Trevino on December 28.

On Friday, March 9, 2019, Trevino came to Southside ISD’s newest campus to thank Davis and to see her students.

Davis becomes emotional when she remembers the journey. “She (Trevino) thanks me for saving her life, but really, she saved mine.”

While Davis is no longer pre-diabetic nor suffering from high blood pressure, she does say she still doesn’t feel complete. The excess skin around her arms and abdomen is so stretched that it just hangs down. She would love to receive an abdominoplasty, commonly referred to as a “tummy tuck.”

“I’m a public school teacher and I cannot afford it,” she said.

Davis will share her story at a booth at the Southside ISD Wellness Extravaganza on Saturday, March 23, 2019 from 9:00 A.M. to noon. She is well aware of the struggle to lose weight and welcomes everyone to stop by her booth and ask questions.

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