Living Angel

I have a story to tell but I have a few concerns about my telling it. First and most overwhelming is that I won't do it justice. That I won't be able to express in words the magnitude of what we've felt and experienced. Second, I'm writing this mostly for me and my children (and possibly my children's children), I'm not sure why that concerns me, other than I don't know if this is the proper "medium" for putting it down on "paper" but it's what works for me. And lastly I'm quite sure it will end up being way too long.



So there are my disclaimers. And here is my story.



Ten years ago in a small town in Germany a little girl got very sick. I don't know the details of her illness, but as a mother I can imagine how horrifying it must have been. This special little girl needed a stem cell transplant. Her friends and family, along with numerous strangers set out to find her a donor. Stem cells are not easy to match. There are a number of criteria that have to be met in order to have a successful match. Radio and TV stations in the area began spreading the word of this little girl's need. A lot of people were tested in an effort to find a potential match. A generous young lady (Barbara) in a neighboring town thought nothing of her willingness to be tested. She sent in her sample and for the most part forgot about it. The sweet little girl in that town, unfortunately couldn't find a donor and lost her battle against cancer.



But that would not be the end of the story.



Six years later on the other side of the ocean a father of four and grandfather of six (Steve) started experiencing some health problems of his own. While training for a marathon he realized he couldn't keep up with his training partners and he just couldn't shake the "cold" he'd had for a few weeks. Then he noticed a lump on his neck. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with a rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Stage four. If, they could get him into remission and if they could get him a stem cell transplant then maybe he could beat this. But the prognosis was pretty grim. (We truly believed that his only hope was a miracle.) It took three different types of chemo and nearly a year before the doctors could get him to the point where a stem cell transplant was possible. The problem was his body was very weak and they just couldn't get him to produce enough of his own stem cells to harvest and do the transplant. Steve would have to find a donor. His family members were tested. No match. They searched the national donor bank. No match.

On the other side of the ocean in a small town in Germany Barbara got a letter. She was needed to help save some one's life. Without thinking twice this amazing young woman who was in the middle of preparing for her own wedding answered the call. After the initial blood work, she got another letter saying she wasn't a close enough match but thank you. A few weeks later she again received a letter, no she wasn't a perfect match but apparently she was as close as they could find. The tranplant process needed to be started as soon as possible.

Donating stem cells isn't a very difficult process. There is very little danger in it for the donor but it does take time and we now know it can also make you very sick for a few days. Barbara stopped her busy life and quite literally saved someone else's.

We got to meet Barbara this last week. She thinks nothing of what she did. She is so humble. My children know their grandpa because of her. My husband has a father that he can go to lunch with every week because of her. She gave so much by really doing something so small (in her mind). We will be eternally grateful for her selflessness.

I wonder about the family of that little girl. I wonder if they have any idea what has happened because of her. I am sure that they still grieve over their loss but I really wish they could know that a life was saved because of her. It certainly won't bring her back but I think it might just help the hurt just a little.