My dear friend, Valerie Sun, is a living miracle. You may remember her pretty face from the time she visited me in Seattle a few years ago. Before we met and sang together at USC, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and the doctors gave her 5 years to live. The only thing that would save her was a bone marrow transplant. At age 17, against all odds, she found a match:
"My donor, Julie, got tested on a mid-west college campus in the late 90s and a few years later, saved my life. There is no question that I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for her taking 15 minutes of her time and registering {to be a donor}. That I wouldn't be pursuing a career in healthcare, that I wouldn't be seeing my nephews and niece growing up, that I wouldn't be there to graduate with my class in June. But I am. And it was thanks to the generosity of a stranger."
There's a beautiful article in the Daily Bruin about Val's story and her mission to find bone marrow matches for others. It moved me to tears, because I remember visiting her in the hospital after her difficult transplant. She is the strongest woman I know.
Tomorrow, Saturday, Jan 26th, Valerie is holding a bone marrow drive on the UCLA campus for her friend, Krissy Kobata, who has a rare life threatening blood disease. If you are in LA, please register to become a donor. Like Val, she is of mixed race. Caucasian and Japanese. This makes it extremely difficult to find a match. Ethnic and hapa donors are especially encouraged to sign up. Go here for more information.
If you don't live in Los Angeles, you can still join the Be The Match registry online. Valerie is now friends with her donor, Julie, who says that giving bone marrow was the best thing she has ever done in life.
{Image by Valerie Sun}
