Random act of Kindess

If you could save the life of a complete stranger, would you?

I was going to write about something entirely different tonight, but as I was perusing one of the message boards I frequent, I came across a something that touched my heart; an (ongoing) story of heartbreaking proportions and of a selfless act of generosity. 

The heartbreaking part:  Kate, 10 months old, has been sick on and off since birth.  No one knew what was wrong, until a few months ago, when she was diagnosed with a rare genetic bone marrow disease.  The only cure is a complete bone marrow transplant, as soon as possible.  I can not imagine the fear that the family endured upon hearing that diagnosis, not to mention what Kate herself will be put through in the next year.  If the transplant is successful, she'll have to spend the majority of the next year in isolation  All night, with tears in my eyes, I've been going over and over in my head what would happen if it was me?  What if it was my child?  How would I handle it?  How would I handle it if, in 5 months we found out one of them had a disease that would require them to suffer chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant?  Would I be able to be strong for my family? 

The awesome part (be careful - this will really make you cry):  Six weeks after her diagnosis, Kate was paired with a perfect match donor, an anonymous 24 year old man.  I am absolutely in awe.  I don't remember what I was doing at 24, but I sure as heck wasn't saving a life.  The maturity, courage, and compassion that this act of kindness displays is, to me, truly inspiring.  (read more about Kate's story, HERE )

Up until tonight, I knew very little about bone marrow donation.  The truth is that the two things I "knew"  were that it was 1) painful and 2) it could only be done for a close family member with compatible DNA, neither of which is really true.  There is a national database for bone marrow donation.  Potential donors sign up, send a swab sample of DNA and, if approved, get added to the database.  When someone needs a transplant, their DNA is matched against the database to (hopefully) find a compatible match.  Depending on the procedure that the patient needs, a donor may be able to donate blood cells instead of actual bone marrow, which is an easier, less painful procedure.  Inspired by this anonymous man and little Kate, I signed up right away.  (more info about becoming a bone marrow donor, HERE

I think, perhaps, this story touched me so much tonight because I have friends, both online and in real life, with babies around the same age as the twins that have recently had, are currently having or are about to have, a hospital stay.  I feel so lucky to have not one, but two healthy infants and an amazing toddler, (truth be told, there's some guilt there, too, when I see my friend's babies sick), and I don't even want to think about the "what ifs."  For those of you that are suffering from PPD, I encourage you to do what I did when I got home from work:  take a deep breath, and just for a moment, put aside the stress, the exhaustion, the tears, the anger, the apathy, the sadness that you feel.  Hold your baby and just love him or her. 

And, for everyone - sign up to be a donor.  Who knows, maybe someday it will be my baby's life that you save.