Washington, D.C., Press Conference

Florida Cancer Survivor Meets Donor During Bike Ride

Rod Jagos is a 47-year old engineer who works for the Boeing Space Program at Cape Canaveral, enjoys photography in his spare time and being the father of three. He is happy, healthy and, thanks to a total stranger from the Washington, D.C., area, he is alive.

In January 1996, Rod was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow. The cure: a marrow transplant.

But a transplant requires matching certain tissue traits. Because these traits are inherited from our parents, the most likely match is a sibling. Given his options, Rod first looked to his three brothers for marrow. Although all three of his brothers matched each other, none matched him. Rod would need to find another source for the new marrow he would need to live. That's when his doctor turned to the National Marrow Donor Program's® (NMDP) Registry of unrelated potential volunteer marrow donors.

Luckily for Rod, in 1988 Tom Lambert, who is a management analyst at the Library of Congress, responded to a pamphlet that he received to become a potential marrow donor. His first response was to throw it away. At the time, the then-called National Bone Marrow Donor Registry was in its infancy - an organization with one year under its belt and a team of tireless pioneers. Because Tom was a regular blood donor, the possibility of donating his marrow so somebody else could live was a commitment he was willing to make.

And he never forgot that commitment. Almost 10 years later, when he received the phone call, Tom didn't hesitate. In August 1997, working with the Washington Area Marrow Donor Center (an NMDP donor center), he donated the marrow that would save Rod's life.

Within 24 hours of the donation, Rod received his new marrow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (an NMDP transplant center).

Although the two had exchanged letters and greeting cards, they had never met. But at 10:30 a.m., September 18, the two - who have never even spoken - met for the first time. The meeting took place outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Hubert H. Humphrey Building as part of a National News Conference for the Five Points of Life Bike Ride.

Following a very emotional meeting, the two men had a chance to say what marrow donation meant to each of them.

I got a bone marrow transplant because I needed one," said Rod. "Tom gave bone marrow because he wanted to." Rod went on to say how grateful he was for Tom's commitment to sharing life with others and commended the Five Points of Life riders for sharing a message that ultimately saved his life.

Tom said that donating marrow has given him a new perspective on life. "Today was a good day because, when I got up and saw the sun rise, I realized that Rod did too. We can't go through life alone; we need other people."

A complete account of the day can be found by linking to the Ride Diary at www.lifesouth.org.

Five Points of Life Bike Ride

For more information on the Five Points of Life ride, go to www.aabb.org or www.lifesouth.org.