Florida man meets boy saved by his stem cell donation: 'Just incredible'
Stem cell donation saves child
Nate Wood of Wesley Chapel joined the DKMS donor bank in 2009. A dozen years later, he learned his donation helped save a boy’s life. FOX 13’s Jennifer Kveglis reports.
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - A rare disease brought together a Pasco County man and a 1-year-old boy from Orange County, California. Three years later, the two met for the first time in person.
The backstory:
Nate Wood, a Wesley Chapel husband and father of two, said it all started with a quick mouth swab in 2009.
"It was a simple act at the time that turned out to be something pretty beneficial," he said.
Courtesy: DKMS.
Twelve years later, he matched as a blood stem cell donor for Jonah Hoots and saved his life.
Before Jonah was born, his parents, James and Christina, received staggering news.
"We found out when I was pregnant with him that he was going to be born with this disease," Christina said. "They started looking for a donor for him before he was even born."
Courtesy: DKMS.
Jonah had already been diagnosed with HLH, a rare blood disease only found in one in every 50,000 to 100,000 live births. HLH can cause an uncontrolled immune response and lead to multi-organ failure in a matter of months if left untreated.
But the Hoots family was already familiar with the disorder. Six years prior, their daughter Tiffany was also diagnosed with HLH.
"It’s a very rare recessive gene that two carriers have to have," James said. "So, me and Christina are both carriers of the recessive gene. So, our kids have about a 25% chance of having that be their gene."
Courtesy: DKMS.
For both Jonah and Tiffany, all it takes is one blood stem cell transfusion, but it had to be from a donor who is a match, which can be difficult to find.
"For some families, there are a lot of eligible matches, but especially in certain ethnic groups, it’s very difficult for them to find a match and they may not have anybody in the registry," Christina said.
Through the DKMS blood stem cell donor bank, the largest in the world, Tiffany matched with a man in Germany. Then in 2021, Jonah matched with Wood.
"There certainly was a little bit of hesitancy just because of the unknown," Wood said. "My wife and I flew to Washington, D.C., for the procedure. It was very simple and seamless."
The Hoots family said their gratitude to Wood is overwhelming. In May, both families flew out to the U.K. for DKMS’ ball, where they met in person for the first time.
"Being able to meet Nate in person, give him a big ol’ hug and say thank you was just incredible," James said.
Now Wood hopes more people consider joining DKMS’ 10 million donors across the world.
"It's super simple," he said. "Very easy to swab your cheek and become someone on the registry, it could save someone's life. It's that simple."
What you can do:
DKMS requires donors to be between 18 and 55 years old and in good health. To learn more, click here.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis.
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