WASHINGTON 鈥撀燗 North Carolina family finally got to thank the woman who saved their 7-year-old son鈥檚 life Sunday, two years after a critical bone marrow transplant.
The Sandi family鈥檚 story is especially poignant since their young daughter died from leukemia, the same disease that was killing their son —聽until a stranger stepped in with a lifesaving donation.
The meeting happened just before the start of the D.C. Walk/Run for Life 5K at Hains Point in East Potomac Park.
Phineas Sandi was on stage with his mom,聽dad聽and older sister when he met 25-year-old Ashley Lowe for the first time.
25 yr old woman meets 7 yr old boy for 1st time after giving him a life-saving bone marrow donation 2 yrs ago.
鈥� Kathy Stewart (@KStewart草莓传媒)
Big hugs were exchanged, and a few tears were shed.
鈥淗onestly, every single day I think about him and you, just hoping that he鈥檚 getting healthier and stronger,鈥� Ashley told the Sandi family, 鈥淪o being here with everyone is just absolutely incredible.鈥�
Phineas Sandi survived against the odds. He had a rare case of Leukemia that did not respond to standard therapies. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, Phineas鈥� parents took him to the National Institutes of Health for an investigational immunotherapy treatment that was in its very early stages.
鈥淚t worked, and as soon as we got him in solid remission we went and got him a bone marrow transplant at the University of North Carolina,鈥澛燩hineas鈥� dad, Carlos Sandi, says.
The Sandi family put all their hopes, and trust, in the hands of an anonymous donor.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty incredible,鈥� Carlos Sandi聽says. 鈥淥ne of the scariest parts of the transplant process is they basically eliminate any chance that you are going to live another two weeks unless that person shows up to donate their marrow.鈥�
Meanwhile, Ashley Lowe is still humble about helping save a young life. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so hard to think that鈥檚 what I did,鈥� she says.
Two years on, Phineas is doing incredibly well.
鈥淵ou see him running around. At this point he鈥檚 just a typical seven-year-old boy, which is part of the mundane miracle aspect,鈥� his dad tells 草莓传媒. 鈥淗e鈥檚 growing, but as healthy as any the kids in his class.聽 We don鈥檛 go in for follow-up treatment at all. He gets one-year exams.鈥�
Phineas鈥� mother, Tina Sandi, couldn鈥檛 wait to hug the woman who basically gave her son a second shot at life. 鈥淚鈥檓 emotional but it鈥檚 a beautiful day,鈥� she says.
The DC Walk/Run for Life 5K raises awareness and funds for bone marrow and blood stem cell donations.聽 The money raised goes to adding new donors to the international bone marrow registry.
Joining the registry is simple, it just聽requires a cheek swab and then the test kit is sent to the lab. But it costs $60 to process a single donor test kit, so fundraising is vital to ensure that other patients like Phineas can find suitable donors.
