Picture this: A desperately ill man with myelodysplastic syndrome in his seventies is fighting for his very life.
A beautiful young woman in a foreign country is going about her everyday life. She happens to be one of only two perfect matches in the world for the stem cells that will save his life.
After the procedure that saves him, the two exchange letters for years without ever knowing each other’s names. Only after the veil of secrecy concerning organ donations is removed and they agree to meet can they finally reveal their names.
Sounds like the plot of the next Nicolas Sparks novel to be made into a movie that will garner millions of dollars by making teenage girls and middle-aged women cry. But it’s not.
This is the story of Jack Zefutie, a man with myelodysplastic syndrome, and Lisa Frömel, a woman with the right combination of blood type and leukocyte antigens on her white blood cells.
Jack Zefutie was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome years before the meeting he had with his life-saving donor.
His bone marrow could not keep up with his body’s demand for red and white blood cells or his platelets. He tried various medications to boost production of each of these blood cells, but they only helped his bone marrow for a short time. His doctor eventually told him that he needed a stem cell transplant.
It is imperative that the organs, bone marrow, and stem cells being donated match the recipient. The more variation between the material and the recipient, the greater the chances of the body rejecting it. Due to Zefutie’s rare genetics, there were only two possible donors in the world’s catalog.
Lisa Frömel was only in the system because she was tested years earlier for a patient in her native Germany. She was not a match then, but she was one for Zefutie.
She readily agreed to endure the week of painful injections that preceded stem cell harvesting. These injections were meant to build up her supply of stem cells so that she would not suffer any ill effects from donating. When it was time to harvest, she had tubes in both arms as blood was drawn out, stem cells were collected, and her blood was returned in the other arm.
The transplant was successful.
Both wanted to contact the other, but rules for donations are strict when it comes to revealing identity. They were able to exchange letters through the hospital that performed his surgery. After two years, their identities were unmasked because both consented.
They eventually met when Lisa and her boyfriend flew to the US on holiday, where Jack and his wife picked them up at the airport and played host throughout the young couple’s stay.
It may be a cliche, but this story seems to prove the old adage that blood is thicker than water.
Read more about this amazing connection by clicking here.
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