BOSTON (WHDH) – Patrick McLaughlin was diagnosed with a rare form of anemia 3 years ago and he’s only alive today because of the generosity of a stranger who he has not finally got to meet.
When Ellie McLaughlin was told her son, Patrick, had a rare blood disease, she didn’t know how long they would have to wait for him to get better.
“I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting,” she told 7NEWS.
When they learned he needed someone to donate bone marrow, she didn’t know how long her son would have to wait to find a donor.
“We knew waiting on the other side was this wonderful young man and his family,” she said.
When they did, they had to wait a year to find out who the donor was — Ryan Young, 28, from Phoenix, Arizona.
“The day we had the transplant I’ve had him in my head in my heart,” Ellie said.
And then, on Friday, they had to wait on one delayed flight for the waiting to be over.
Still immuno-compromised, Patrick had to stay in the car and wait just a little bit longer.
“I was more concerned that they wouldn’t want to meet which is like I totally understand, like I get it a little strange,” Young said.
But Patrick McLaughlin said, “Seeing him, knowing that I have part of him in me. It’s like they’re part of the family now.”
Both moms say there is a desperate need for donors and that if you’re thinking about it, you shouldn’t wait.
Learn more about the Bone Marrow Registry Program
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Owen Boss
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