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Michigan Law StudentGave Four Chances at LifeShe donated marrow to save the lives of four dying siblings. Kristin Rummell knows the sad effects of cancer. It has taken the lives of her cousin and father. The disease struck her family again last year when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. As she watched the devastation of the disease, Kristin pledged to help alleviate the suffering of others in need. She kept her promise when she donated her marrow not once, but twice to save the lives of four siblings who were suffering from a rare life-threatening disease!
Fred and Emy Darrington's son, Sam, was born with a rare genetic disorder, metachromatic leukodystrophy. To survive, he needed a volunteer marrow or blood stem cell donor for his life-saving transplant. Fred and Emy turned to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) for an unrelated volunteer donor. The NMDP Registry identified a donor for Sam. The donor was Kristin. Sam received his transplant in 1998 and is now living the healthy life of an active 2-year-old toddler. Then, Fred and Emy had triplets last year and to their dismay, the triplets were also diagnosed with the same disease. Just like Sam, the triplets, Ryan, Rebekah and Rachel, needed a volunteer donor for their transplants. Because the characteristics that determine whether a donor and patient match are inherited, Sam and the triplets share the same characteristics. Sam's donor, Kristin was approached for yet a second donation and once again the kind, caring and generous donor rose to the occasion. Ryan and Rebekah received their transplants earlier this year. Kristin's marrow has been preserved for Rachel and will be transplanted when Rachel recovers from a minor infection. "Donating for these children has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I felt helpless as I watched my family suffer from cancer. I am honored to be able to give hope to another family in a time of need," Kristin said. Multiple donations such as Kristin's are extremely rare. Kristin is also the first volunteer donor to have donated to four recipients within the same family. During Women's History Month, a time of celebrating the contributions of women, the NMDP is saluting and thanking volunteer donors such as Kristin who are making a difference for those in need. Created in 1986, the Minneapolis-based NMDP is a non-profit organization that facilitates unrelated donor stem cell transplants for patients with life-threatening blood diseases who do not have matching donors in their families. Currently, the NMDP facilitates more than 100 transplants each month. The NMDP provides a single point of access for all sources of blood stem cells used in transplantation: marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. The Registry is able to search its own database and provide physicians with information on multiple stem cell sources for life-saving transplants. Since it began operations in 1987, the NMDP has recruited a diverse Registry of approximately 4 million potential volunteer marrow and blood stem cell donors and provided transplants to more than 9,000 patients.
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