Jared, who lives in Texas, is nine-going-on-ten years old. In 2003, after being treated successfully for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), he 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, Cathy, nor his brother, James, matched Jared’s tissue type, so a national search was launched for an unrelated donor.

Remarkably, the search process found a matching donor relatively quickly, and a marrow donation was arranged. That same evening, “they came in with a bag of what just looked like blood,”Cathy recalls. “That was it – the marrow that somebody donated. It was truly a gift of life.” Cathy says it’s almost impossible to put in words how much that gift meant. “You have no idea how agonizing it is to stand there in a hospital room and have three top doctors tell you this is what you must do or your child will die,” she says.

Exactly a year to the day after Jared’s transplant, on November 25, 2004, Cathy sent a letter to Jared’s anonymous marrow donor, via the transplant center in Houston. “I just want you to know that my child … is back in school, playing with friends, and going on with life,” she wrote. “He loves to fish and [do] all the outdoor things …We hope to one day meet you in person and I want to wrap my arms around you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

On January 27, 2005, Cathy got a chance to fulfill her hope at the annual Evening of Thanks event hosted by Michigan Community Blood Centers in Grand Rapids. There, she and Jared met Josh, the young Walker, MI man who had donated the marrow that saved Jared’s life. Cathy wrapped her arms around Josh for a very long time – and only let go when it was time for Jared to give and get a hug of his own.

© Michigan Community Blood Centers