A story published by news station WBIR tells the story of Beth Harris, a mother of five who made a stem cell donation that saved the life of an elderly woman suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

More than 20 years ago, Beth saw an organisation at her college campus that was looking for people to register as bone marrow donors. The “Be the Match” bone marrow registry told her that it was highly unlikely that she would be called upon to make a stem cell donation, because matches can be rare.  Only one in every 540 people who are registered donors get asked to donate.

After 19 years had passed, Beth thought she would never hear from them, saying: “It was 18 or 19 years went by. By that point, I thought, if I’ve never heard from them I’m never going to”

Then Beth received a letter saying that her stem cells may be the last hope for a 50-year-old woman who was suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Out of 20 million potential donors in the database, Beth was the only match.

Beth realised she was this woman’s only hope at survival, saying: “I felt like I had been called very specifically. This woman who I don’t know and she doesn’t know me across the world needed me specifically”

After some tests, Beth flew to Washington D.C. hospital in March for the procedure. The donation procedure has advanced greatly over the last twenty years and is now completely painless.

One of Beth’s children Josh went with her for moral support. He was incredibly proud that his mother could help another person in such a meaningful way, saying: “It takes a special type of person to go do something unbelievable like this. It takes a certain amount of courage”

Beth now receives updates through the Be the Match registry, informing her of the progress of the woman she helped.

Source: Volunteer Heart: Knoxville woman saves a stranger’s life with stem cell donation

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