CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Years after a cancer diagnosis, a Loyola Medicine patient met the donor who saved her life.
Jenny Carillo was 23-years-old when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. In addition to chemotherapy, her doctors at Loyola Medicine told her she needed bone marrow transplants.
She was hoping one of her two brothers would be a match.
“They ended up not being a match at all, which was kind of surprising because I didn’t know that even your own blood brothers was able to not be a match,” Carillo said.
Thankfully, Arizona resident David Farias had joined the National Bone Marrow Registry years ago and was a match.
He told WBBM the decision was easy.
“It was a no brainer. I was going to help a human being fight this terrible disease,” Farias said.
Carillo, who’s now 27, was able to meet Farias and thank him in person for donating on three separate occasions.
“Honestly, David saved my life…three times now, he just recently donated. He gave me a second chance in life, because of him I was able to complete one of my dreams and my family’s dreams, to complete school,” Carillo said.
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