Texas Boy to Meet Michigan Airman Who Saved His Life

Walker man, Now in the United States Air Force, Donated Bone Marrow

GRAND RAPIDS, MI: Nine-year-old Jared Minter of Bellville TX is making his first trip ever to Michigan to say thank-you to Airman Joshua Ingram, 20, of Walker, for the marrow donation that saved his life. The two will meet for the first time at the Evening of Thanks event hosted by Michigan Community Blood Centers on Thursday, January 27 at Frederik Meijer Gardens, 1000 E. Beltline, Grand Rapids. The meeting is the first West Michigan ‘reunion’ of a marrow recipient and donor through Michigan Community Blood Centers. The event, which starts at 6 p.m., honors 500 area blood-drive organizers.

Also to be introduced during the evening are a four-year-old Grand Rapids girl who received a stem-cell transplant and her family, and two West Michigan women linked by blood in two ways: as sisters, and as both donor and recipient of red blood cells.

“We want our blood drive sponsors to understand in a very personal way that what they do really matters,” said Doug Klynstra, who is responsible for donor recruitment at Michigan Community Blood Centers. “It’s very compelling to hear the stories of people whose lives literally have been transformed through our services, including blood and marrow donation – services we could not provide without the support of our blood drive sponsors.”

In 2003, after being treated successfully for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), Jared developed a bone marrow abnormality that put him at extreme risk for developing acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Because Jared’s chances for surviving AML would be extremely slim, his doctors advised a marrow transplant to enable his body to produce new, healthy bone marrow. Neither Jared’s mother, Catherine, nor his brother, James, matched Jared’s tissue type, so a national search was launched for an unrelated donor.

That donor turned out to be Airman Ingram, who is the son of David and Terri Ingram of Walker. While a student at Kenowa Hills High School, Airman Ingram had been recruited as a prospective marrow donor by Michigan Community Blood Centers. Just a few weeks before he was to report for basic training, he learned he was a perfect match for a young boy who needed a transplant. “There was no question about doing it, really,” said Airman Ingram, who is now stationed at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he works at military alert facilities that house U.S. nuclear assets. “Why wouldn’t anybody do it, if they had a chance?”

A nonprofit blood bank, Michigan Community Blood Centers provides 100 percent of the regular blood supply to hospitals in three major regions of the state with a combined population of approximately 1.5 million. Besides recruiting blood donors and collecting blood, Michigan Community Blood Centers also recruits marrow donors and provides supportive services for transplant patients and families, and operates Michigan’s first nonprofit cord blood bank.

© Michigan Community Blood Centers