Marrow donor meets girl she saved

TAMPA - Shaila Lopez and Samantha Galauskas are now forever friends, after Shaila saved little Samantha's life -- not once or twice, but three times.

At 14 months old, Samantha was diagnosed with Chediak-Higashi Syndrome. It's a disease that attacks the immune system, making patients unable to fight viruses and bacteria. Samantha is from Illinois.

Thousands of miles away in Valrico, Shaila was just out of high school, trying to donate blood.

"I didn't weigh enough to give blood and I felt bad cause I went in there and started the process," she explained.

But at the blood center, they told her she could still help. "They said if you're still interested in helping, there is a national registry to donate bone marrow, should there come a need. It is very rare to be contacted," they told her.

But then she got the call. She said it was a little scary at first, but it turned to be a pretty easy procedure.

Later, Shaila found out who she had donated to.

"When I found out it was a 1-year-old little girl, I could totally put myself in those shoes and what if I was the one waiting to see if somebody would donate for my daughter," she says.

Shaila's daughter is the same age. It turns out, Samantha received three stem cell infusions from Shaila. Doctors with Florida Blood Services said the odds of a non-related match are pretty rare.

"The potential of finding a match is less than 60 percent for any patient in need of having this life saving procedure performed," explained Dr. Buff Mair.

Jacki Galauskas hugged Shaila as they met, thanking her for saving Samantha's life.

Samantha is now four years old.

"She understood, she could feel the same emotions. Cause I know any mother could," Samantha's mom said.

For many of the 30,000 patients who will be diagnosed with leukemia, aplastic anemia and 60 other fatal diseases this year, the only chance for survival is a marrow or peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant from a compatible donor.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 60, in good health and no more than 25 percent over your ideal body weight, you can join the more than 46,000 Tampa Bay area volunteers who have already joined the "Be The Match" registry.

Simple swabs from inside the mouth to collect DNA samples for tissue typing is all that is required along with registration paperwork.

Currently, FBS has funding to cover the laboratory typing fees.

Prospective enrollees can visit any FBS Donor Center or bloodmobile to sign up. For further information about the "Be The Match" program, call 727-568-2110.