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Recipient MIKE HULEN Meets Donor JASON JUSTISS
November 14, 2019 On November 14, 2019, at BIC’s annual banquet, Jason Justiss of Longview met Mike Hulen, the stranger for whom he had donated stem cells in 2015. In May of 2013, Justiss was recruited for the Be The Match Registry by Because I Care at a skeet shoot in Gilmer, which was benefiting […]
Recipient PATRICIA UMANA-DE LA ROSA and Donor JOSE RUBIO
November 2, 2017 Southern Californian, Patricia Umana-De La Rosa, came to Longview, Texas, to meet the East Texan who saved her life. In 2016, Jose Rubio donated healthy stem cells to Patricia, giving her a chance for a cure and extended life. In 2012, Jose signed up for the Be The Match Registry at a […]
Recipient MELISSA MCCOY and Donor AMY GRIMSLEY
October 21, 2016 West Texan, Melissa McCoy, came to Longview to meet the young woman who saved her life. Amy Grimsley, donated stem cells to her in 2015. This story began when Amy was a nursing student at East Texas Baptist University and took part in the LeTourneau University Health Fair in Longview in October […]
Donor KATELYN THOMPSON & Recipient CHRIS CARTER
October 23, 2015 Katelyn Thompson signed up for the Be The Match Registry in the spring of 2014, at Because I Care’s table at a TSTC Health Fair in Marshall, TX. At the time she was a phlebotomist at Carter BloodCare. The following year Katelyn learned she was a potential match for a patient. She […]
Recipient LARRY PARKS and Donor BEVERLY JOHNSON
On October 24, 2014, Canadian Larry Parks flew to Longview, Texas, from Red Deer, Alberta, to meet the lady who saved his life. He’d always wanted to meet her but never thought it would happen. East Texan, Beverly Johnson, was enjoying the booths and art at Alley Fest in Longview in June 1999, when she […]
Donor STEPHEN McCORMICK and Recipient SEAN SUPPAN
October 11, 2013 When Sean was a toddler, he was diagnosed with ALD, adrenoleukodystrophy, a potentially fatal disease. A bone marrow transplant would offer him the best opportunity for a longer life. In November 2008, Stephen McCormick was a student at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall when he signed up for the Be The […]
Donor RAMONA RAWLINGS and Recipient JONATHAN OLSON
October 20, 2011 Jonathan Olson and his wife Melanie flew to East Texas from Bellevue, Washington, to meet a very special lady at the Because I Care annual awards banquet in Longview on October 20, 2011. That lady was his bone marrow donor, Ramona Rawlings of Hope, Arkansas. In the spring of 2009, Jonathan was […]
Donor PETE HERTING and Recipient DEL COVINGTON
November 4, 2010 Pete Herting and his wife Christine, Oakdale, New York residents, flew to Longview to meet Del Covington, the East Texan to whom Pete gave “the gift of life” in 2008. Covington owes his life to Herting, a New York City firefighter. Covington was the associate pastor at the First United Methodist Church […]
Donor DIANA BREWER and Recipient HAILEY FRANCO
October 22, 2009 Diana Brewer, a nurse and mother of two young children who lives in Longview, met little Hailey Franco, age 7, of Katy. Brewer said she was excited that Because I Care made it possible for her to meet the little girl for whom she donated marrow. Because Hailey is a minor, Brewer’s […]
Donor HALSTON HUNT and Recipient MELINDA BEATTY
October 22, 2009 Halston Hunt, age 17 and a high school senior in Bridgeport, Texas, met his marrow donor, Melinda Beatty of Longview, for the first time on October 22, 2009. Hunt was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 2006, and received Beatty’s marrow in the spring of 2007. “It’s really awesome to have a chance […]
Donor MARC HEATH and Recipient BOB HOGBERG
October 23, 2008 North Carolinian Marc Heath came to East Texas to meet the man to whom he had given a Texas-sized gift. Heath had never been to Texas before, nor had he ever met Bob Hogberg, the Marshall man whose life he saved by donating bone marrow. “It’s good to be here and it’s […]
Donor TANYA FULLER and Recipient EVERETT LEE
November 10, 2005 Tanya Fuller, of Fort Washington, Maryland, was donating blood to the Red Cross during a job fair in 2000, when she was approached by a bone marrow donor recruiter. According to Fuller, the recruiter told her that more blacks are needed as donors in order to help other blacks. Tanya Fuller was […]
Donor JAY EDWARDS and Recipient KIRSTEN STAUDER
November 8, 2007 Kirsten Stauder, an 11-year-old girl from New York, flew to Texas to meet Jay Edwards, the Gladewater man whose bone marrow donation saved her life in 2005. “It was wonderful to have a chance to come to Texas and meet him,” Kirsten said. “That’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a […]
Donor KIRK KIRKPATRICK and Recipient DAVID CLOUD
November 4, 2004 David Cloud is alive today because of a bone marrow transplant he received in 1992. His donor, Kirk Kirkpatrick, was tissue typed on January 27, 1990, at the first Because I Care event. Kirkpatrick hoped his marrow would be a match for his 18-year-old cousin, leukemia patient Bryan Quinn, but it wasn’t. […]
