Young girl feels immediate connection with donor who saved her life
Meeting the person who saves your life is bound to be an emotional experience for anyone. But when 9-year-old Cami Carver met the man who donated her life saving bone marrow, the result was simply incredible.
Cami was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010 and after years of battling with chemo, it returned. No one in Cami's family was a match to be a bone marrow donor but in 2013 a stranger on the bone marrow registry was.
Joe from Texas saved this little girl's life. According to Chelsea, Cami's mom, Joe was the only match out of 11 million on the bone marrow registry.
A post shared by Chelsea Carver (@chelseacarver) on Jul 20, 2015 at 12:41pm PDT
This summer a cancer-free Cami finally got to meet Joe from Texas. And suffice it to say, she was excited.
Cami's mom tells Today.com that the minute her daughter saw Joe she dropped her sign and ran to him. She says, "[Cami] later told me that the minute she saw him she felt the need to hug him. Meanwhile, I was sobbing. It was a very emotional and surreal feeling to meet the guy who saved your daughter and even has the same DNA. We all felt instantly connected."
A post shared by Chelsea Carver (@chelseacarver) on Aug 8, 2015 at 6:54am PDT
Joe and his family spent the weekend with the Carver and saying goodbye was emotional. Chelsea Carver posted this photo to Instagram and says in the caption: 'Saying goodbye to the incredible man who gave her a second chance at life. They will forever share the same blood, DNA and a bond that is hard to describe. They are so closely matched, they could be siblings! We are so grateful we got to meet Joe and his family. Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible!'
Joe and Cami were matched via Be The Match a bone marrow registry operated by the National Marrow Donor Program®.
If Cami's story inspires you to done you can register online or find a donor registry drive at BeTheMatch.org.
