Dear Friends,
I've recently celebrated my second year of life post transplant this past September 30th. I have never felt better about my health and my future, a life free of Aplastic Anemia.
A wonderful thing occurred recently. A momentous meeting happened between me and my bone marrow donor, Hector. The story goes like this -- In October of 2005, just after I celebrated my first anniversary post transplant, I filed my paperwork with the NMDP (The National Marrow Donor Program) giving them my confidential information of who I am and where I live to my anonymous donor. The protocol in these exchanges is the recipient waits one full year after the transplant before he or she can make contact with their donor. It took some time but in early April of ‘06 I got a call from a sweet woman named Jamie Herrin from the NMDP asking me "Have you spoken with Hector yet?” That was the first time that I heard his name. Up until then, the only thing that I knew about him before and after the transplant was that he was a male and 33 years of age. My first question for Jamie was “Where is he from?" She replied, “he’s from Mexico, and he's an incredible man, who went far and wide to do this for you." I was so blown away that anyone could care that much to work so hard to save my life. Jamie said that arrangements were being made for Hector and I to meet at a NMDP sponsored banquet on October 20th of 2006 in El Paso, Texas. It was great news and the news I'd been waiting for. However, it would be some months before we would meet in person and I didn't want to spoil the excitement. So I got his email address from Jamie and I sent him my first correspondence.

Actually my first correspondence with him came days after my transplant when I sent him a card thanking him for his much appreciated generous donation that saved my life. I ended the letter by saying “We’re brothers now" and I meant it. He replied later, through an anonymous source, with a kind and reassuring letter that he was OK and that I had the challenges ahead to get better. He wrote in somewhat of a broken English manner, so I had a good feeling that he could very well be South American or from anywhere in Latin America. It was a very encouraging response that we would meet one day.
In my first email exchange with Hector, I was clearly anxious but ready to reveal who I was to him and that I was eternally grateful to him for saving my life. He responded in kind with an email shortly afterwards and sent me some photos of him and his family. I then sent him a photo of me and my parents. We emailed through out the summer months in anticipation of our meeting in October.

On October 19th I landed in El Paso, Texas with my fiancée. On the 20th, at approximately 3 pm, I went to the presidential suit of the Radisson Hotel; I was told this would be the room in which Hector and I would be introduced. Sarah and I were the first to arrive and I waited nervously. Then I heard some voices by the door, proceeded by a knock. I answered and saw some people in the doorway that I didn't recognize, I greeted them and introduced myself then I poked my head out a bit more and then I saw Hector waiting to come in. We hugged and laughed. We had come full circle finally. He had played the most important role of in my life, next to my mother, and we were meeting for the first time. He then introduced me to his wife and two boys. His lovely wife is expecting a baby girl in a month. We talked for a couple of hours until we were told that we had to get ready for the banquet dinner, which was to honor many people who were marrow donors in previous years. That night at the banquet, we were officially introduced to the audience and I proceeded to speak to the donors about how their sacrifice was possibly the noblest sacrifice of their lives. It was inspiring to spend a dinner with so many gracious and selfless people.

All in all it was a marvelous weekend -- really life affirming. I meet my long lost brother, Hector, the man who saved my life.

Sincerely,
Roberto Parada
—November, 2006