Dear Anonymous Bone Marrow Donor,
Thank you. Thank you for joining a registry of donors who are on-call for active duty, and for spending months or even years waiting for a phone call that informed you, hey, you’re up. Eight years ago, on what probably began as a perfectly ordinary day, you learned your bone marrow matched the marrow of a 14-year-old boy, a sweet, funny, strong lad with a laser-bright smile. Due to a rare disease, at the time, he was way too skinny and the wrong shade of pale.
Donor, to save this stranger’s life, you underwent extensive genetic testing. In the operating room, you dozed under general anesthesia while doctors extracted precious marrow from the spongy center of your hard hip bones.
An hour later, you woke up in the recovery room, an IV dripping your own red blood cells back into your veins. You were exhausted. Your throat hurt. You probably vomited.
As a nurse helped you to the bathroom, your magical marrow was already winging its way to our local hospital, where another brave young man waited. After the transplant, it was his turn to be on active duty. Thanks to you, he had the strength to wage war on fever and infection as if his life depended on it.
Because, of course, it did.
Today, our young friend has your healthy stem cells on round-the-clock patrol, busily building brand-new blood cells in his once-again robust body. He’s now a college graduate who’s landed his first job and who raises both money and awareness for the global bone marrow registry called Be the Match.
I say again: thank you.
Donor, your hero’s journey began on a perfectly ordinary day. This makes today—another perfectly ordinary day—precisely the right time to share my boundless gratitude for your compassion, your commitment, and your kindness, and for your strong, sustaining marrow.
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