TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tuesday, Feb. 21 marks the 10-year anniversary of Robin Roberts’ return to Good Morning America following her life saving bone marrow transplant from her sister Sally. Good Morning America's "Be The Match" nationwide initiative, hopes to have more people enter the bone marrow registry.
Like Roberts' sister Sally, a local donor in Tucson was also able to be a part of a life saving effort.
It's been seven years since Kelsey Fish randomly signed up to be in a bone marrow registry on her college campus. In 2022, she got the call.
"It just feels really good to give them that hope in the darkest times of their lives," said Fish.
The odds of matching with someone is slim. It's not your blood type that determines the match— it's dependent on tissue type and your ethnic background. For local doctors, getting younger people ages 17-40 in the registry, is important to patients' success. The younger the donor, the easier the recovery process will be.
“There’s a 60% chance depending on the risk categories that this can lead to the cure of the cancer," said Sharad Khurana, MD, University of Arizona Cancer Center.
For Fish, her procedure was quick and the recovery process was not as painful as she expected.
“My pain was not bad at all. When I woke up from the surgery they asked me pain on a scale of 1-10 and I said it was a 3," said Fish.
Fish's match was a younger girl with leukemia. She has not met her yet, but is hoping to do so after that 1-year donation mark.
“I still think about her all the time. I was allowed to send her a little gift so I sent her a little star bracelet because I think she is an absolute rockstar," said Fish. "I wear this a lot and whenever I wear it I think of her.”
To join the bone marrow registry and become a donor with "Be The Match", click here.
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Brooke Chau is a reporter for KGUN 9. She was a part of Fresno State's newscast, Fresno State Focus and interned at KFSN-ABC30 in Fresno, CA before coming to KGUN 9. Share your story ideas and important issues with Brooke by emailing brooke.chau@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
