Cancer Survivor Meets Life-Saving Donor on 'GMA': BeTheMatch.Org Finds a Match

you're going to meet this wonderful woman right here cuz we have a lot in common U many of you know that I have a rare blood disease it's got a big old long name to it its nickname is MDS uh pre-leukemia and I'm going to undergo a bone marrow transplant in just a couple of weeks now I'm just one of thousands of patients who need this kind of transplant and in a perfect world uh we would all be matched up with donors I'm blessed that my sister is one the happy ending to the story of the woman that's sitting to me right next to me right now I can't wait and you're going to meet the man the young man who gave you the gift of life but before we have that reunion Erica we want to show people your story thank you okay for Erica Turner Life as a happily married mother of two came to a screeching halt her world stopped with a simple statement from her doctor he said Mrs Turner We believe that you have leukemia and I immediately I looked at him and I said cancer of the blood it felt like somebody just hit me with a low blow and her condition was spiraling she was getting sicker it's a very aggressive leukemia even with chemo and radiation there was only one life-saving solution I had to have a bone marrow transplant that was my only option to survive Erica was an inspiration to her medical team she was filled with hope she was filled with joy she's filled with love and it helped carried everybody who was taking care of her through a very tough battle for African-Americans and other minorities it is harder to find a bone marrow match the likelihood of finding an African-American donor is about 60% a little bit higher for Hispanics it's about 70% and for Caucasians it's in the realm of 90% but after weeks of waiting and as Erica's condition worsened a bright light arrived and a fact a match for Erica and even better news they were a perfect match yes the zeros on the bottom say their blood proteins are no different that they are an absolutely perfect match a 10 for 10 they call it it was a male and that he was a senior in college that's all I knew but when final preparations came for her transplant Erica was about to give up I was burned out I was tired I didn't want to go I fussed I fought I cried and my husband said fine get back in bed and we'll watch you die I jumped up I said I'm going to die huh I'm going to show you the transplant worked and soon Erica was in remission but there is one more stop on Erica's Journey I've never met him I've never seen him but I'm just so excited to look into his eyes to look into his soul and tell him thank you I just want him to know know that he is my hero when people are faced with the potential that they might die and they have to rely on the kindness of a total stranger they say yes and everything comes together it's a pretty miraculous story and it's a journey and this doesn't give you Goosebumps I don't know what well F them back to your I know that you are you ready to meet him you ready to meet this young man I'm ready to meet the man who saved my life it gives us such great pleasure to bring out Christopher mcon the young man who saved Erica's life there he is thank you thank you it's good to meet you finally you look great bless you bless you we got a lot of catching up to do don't yes we do hi Christ very nice to meet you meet you too you are an angel please let's have a let's have a SE you've been waiting to look into his eyes you hadn't seen him before I know that but you all had you have to you're required to wait a year until you contact your donor but you all had been doing some Facebooking back and forth well more emailing yeah more emailing yeah a little bit of Facebook so what is it that you have been waiting to look into his eyes and tell them Christopher yeah I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart with my whole soul and my whole being thank you for giving me back to my parents thank you for giving me back to my kids and to my husband I love you M and there's nothing in this world that I would not do for you because you did it for me and I love you I love you thank you so much beautiful Christopher you know we've been calling you a hero and we were really touched when you said that this woman right here is absolutely mean by that well you're the one that fought for your family I had the easy job you know know I was asleep for the whole thing I got to watch TV for 2 days that was it you know you're the one who is sick mhm yes yes and always believed that you were going to get better yes and you did I did and now you can provide hope for people are in similar situations you know across the country yes so that's but as people like you who give us life you know donation it has to be even more precious Erica that a total stranger you know my sister um my mama made my sister give her her maril my whole family wanted to do it it it was just a blessing it's not that common but that a a total stranger yes and and you're right your sister she loves you she she's seen you grow into the beautiful woman that you are today this young man here he didn't know me from a can of paint you know he he didn't know me and he would was so willing and and I just can't find the words but he was just so so willing to to give his life you know so that I can have mine and Christopher what would you say to those people who are wondering whether or not they should join the registry I'd say it i' do it again in a second you know even if you don't know anyone who's sick you might later down the line it's really not that painful procedure that's one of the huge myths trust me it's not that bad you know it's like getting your wisdom teeth out it's you're under you wake up people take really good care of you cuz they know you're doing a good thing so getting that registry go to bethem match.com and get that cheek swab it's just a simple painless procedure to get in the registry and that's that's step one that's the most important stuff that it is well we're going to let you spend more time together Eric I know you have your husband and your beautiful boys here Christopher bless your heart thank you all so very very much it's just a story that well close to my heart

Channel: ABC News

Views: 168,289

Keywords: Erika Turner wiki, Erika Turner bio, Erika Turner facebook, Erika Turner twitter, Erika Turner gma, Erika Turner interview, Robin Roberts cancer, Robin Roberts cancer story, Robin Roberts cancer 2012, Robin Roberts cancer news, Robin Roberts cancer gma, Robin Roberts bio, Robin Roberts personal life, bone marrow transport, bone marrow donation, bone marrow biopsy, bone marrow cancer, bone marrow test, bone marrow registry, bone marrow disease

Id: NswM9qZ3xok

Length: 7min 29sec (449 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 22 2012