To celebrate National Donate Life Month I wanted to spotlight someone dear to my heart who has donated. My aunt, Cecilia Koch, has been an annual blood donor. In addition, at only eighteen years old, she donated bone marrow, which is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains stem cells that develop into the red blood cells that carry oxygen through your body, the white blood cells that fight infections, and the platelets that help with blood clotting. Some people need extra bone marrow because of cancer and other diseases. For the person that Cecilia donated to, it was Leukemia.
Cecilia had been a regular blood donor since she was sixteen, but had never experienced something like this. One of the reasons that inspired her to do this was because of her family. My Grandma, (her mom) has donated gallons of blood, and most of her siblings have too. When she was in her freshman year at UK, she joined the National Bone Marrow Registry. In the fall of that year, there was a blood drive on campus led by Miss Kentucky. She was using the blood drive as her platform, and encouraged students like Cecilia to donate. Two of Cecilia’s brothers were on the list so she figured she would join too since they just had to take blood. Miss Kentucky had informed Cecilia that it was a one in a million chance she’d be called, but little did she know.
She got a call from the Kentucky Blood Center a few months later, explaining that she was a perfect, one hundred percent match with one person who lived across the country. I asked her about the process of the transplant, and she explained to me that it went by very quickly. She had to go through a few tests to double check that she was a match, which she was. She had to take iron pills shortly before her surgery to build up her iron supply. Everything was set and Cecilia was ready. The date had been arranged for May 28, 2003, which was coincidentally her 19th birthday. She said that the transplant being on her birthday felt like a sign and she knew that she should go through with it even though she was nervous. On the day of her surgery, she was driven up to the UK hospital and put under anesthesia. Four large needles were put into her back while drawing out the bone marrow. As soon as she woke up, she was able to go home but had to rest since her back would be very sore. After about a week she was good as new and went water skiing at Cave Run Lake. The national registry has called her every year and has managed to keep Cecilia on the registry.
Sadly the person Cecilia donated to was in his last stage of cancer and did not survive, but the bone marrow that he was given added a few months to his life. Cecilia was heartbroken, but happy to know that her donation helped someone who really needed it. My Aunt Cecilia has been an inspiration to me, and should be to everyone else. She did something so selfless for a complete stranger and has continued donating blood to help people all around the country.
