It was an emotional scene at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center at Loyola University Medical Center in west suburban Maywood when 29-year-old Damon Young of southwest suburban Oak Lawn was introduced to 29-year-old Syeed Mahdi of Maryland this past weekend.
Young was 26 when he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow cancer. The only curative option for Young was a bone marrow transplant without which, the disease is universally fatal.
Young's team of doctors at Loyola Medicine reached out
to the National Marrow Donor Program which connected them to Mahdi who got a call while filling up his car with gas in 2022 and immediately agreed to be a donor.
In December 2022, bone marrow was retrieved from Mahdi and transported to Loyola University Medical Center and later transplanted into Young following his chemotherapy to eliminate any unhealthy cells. About 100 days after the procedure, patients undergo follow-up testing to check for any traces of cancer.
On July 7, 2023, Young rang the Cancer Center's bell, a milestone that signifies the end of a patient's cancer treatment and remission.
The two men and their families met and embraced at the hospital, and Young told WBBM, "I've always wanted a brother...to be able say I feel like I have one, I'm kind of not lying in saying that we're blood because (Syeed's) DNA is now part of me!"
Mahdi, sitting right next to his new "brother," said, "to potentially do something good was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I think everyone deserves to give something in life."
Damon adds, "to come here...and be able to meet Syeed was...I have been grinning since I walked through the door...I just wanted to express my gratitude."
Syeed said the strangers, now brothers, have a life-saving, and likely, life-long bond. "To see him healthy and looking good, I think that's what I'm most thankful for, that it all went through, it was successful and I'm thankful to see him happy and being able to live the long life."