‘Thank you for saving my life.’
Recipient Ryan Compton, age 8
Simi Valley, Calif. 

In November 2010, a few days before her 5-year-old son Ryan was to undergo a bone marrow transplant from a donor they had never met, Maggie Compton made a print of Ryan’s tiny hand on a blank greeting card, which she planned to send to his donor with her own thank-you letter.

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‘I just hope that if my baby ever needed a donation there would be someone to step up.’
Donor Barry Crackett, 34
Northumberland, England

Barry Crackett was sitting alongside his wife Jessica’s hospital bed in England admiring their newborn son, Sol.  They’d planned for a peaceful water birth at home, but sudden complications led to a hospital birth and a rather traumatic entry into the world. Now that things were calm, and Sol was fine, Crackett finally could read the letter.

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‘You just did a lot of praying that they would eventually find somebody.’’
Recipient Joseph Mandel, age 63
Woodland Hills, Calif. 

It takes cancer survivor Joseph Mandel awhile to open his Woodland Hills front door because he’s on crutches. His leg injury, however, is not due to disease but to a recent skiing accident.  Mandel, who underwent a stem cell transplant  from an unrelated donor in 2010, is back to his old passions, sailing down slopes, white-water rafting, and is even courting new loves like sky diving.

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‘I think that one cannot refuse an offer to help save someone’s life.’
Donor Nevo Segal, age 25
Israel (currently living in London)

In November 2010, a few days before her 5-year-old son Ryan was to undergo a bone marrow transplant from a donor they had never met, Maggie Compton made a print of Ryan’s tiny hand on a blank greeting card, which she planned to send to his donor with her own thank-you letter.

Read story >>