Two Life-Saving Marrow Donors Meet Their Transplant Recipients at Gift of Life Marrow Registry Charitable Gala
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gift of Life Marrow Registry celebrated its annual One Huge Night Los Angeles Gala on September 16 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. The event gathered a diverse crowd of supporters, including celebrities, philanthropists and community members, to raise awareness and funds for Gift of Life's mission to eradicate blood cancer. The gala paid tribute to the selfless individuals who donated blood stem cells or marrow, and to the patients whose lives were saved through these transplants.
Dr. Miriam Adelson an Israeli-American physician and philanthropist, who is also the publisher of the Israel Hayom newspaper and the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, delivered the event’s keynote. A dedicated Gift of Life advocate, Dr. Adelson and her husband were instrumental in the creation of the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Gift of Life Collection Center located at Gift of Life’s headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla.
The gala celebrated 20 years of partnership between Gift of Life and Taglit-Birthright Israel while also marking the 500th successful transplant from Birthright donors. This collaboration has inspired over 104,000 Birthright participants to join the registry, significantly expanding the donor pool. These young adults have been responsible for over 5,000 matches and 500 life-saving transplants.
Among the gala’s special guests were award-winning actress, singer, dancer, philanthropist, and social media activist Montana Tucker.
A particularly poignant moment during the event was the reunion of two marrow donors with their respective recipients. The first donor and recipient pair included 62-year-old leukemia survivor Mark Josephson and Jacob Isrow, the 21-year-old who saved his life. Josephson, a husband and father from New Jersey, was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in November 2022 after falling ill on a family vacation. His doctors recommended a stem cell transplant and highlighted the need for a young donor to increase Josephson’s chance of survival.
“My doctors wanted a young, vibrant match - ‘a 19-year-old surfer’,’” said Josephson. “We were all hopeful that we would find a match, but never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would find exactly what the doctors wanted!”
Unbeknownst to Josephson, his soon-to-be donor Isrow fit that profile perfectly. An outdoor enthusiast and a student at University of California, Berkeley studying biomedical engineering, Isrow joined the registry during a Birthright trip in July 2022 and went on to donate less than a year later.
The evening’s second donor pair shared a similarly moving experience. It included Jason Tornes, a 24-year-old medical assistant from Dayton, Ohio, and 1½-year-old Isla Kobernat from Illinois, who was diagnosed with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency at just three months old.
In 2022, Tornes was a college student at the University of Dayton when he decided to join the registry. He knew the chances of being a match were low, but he was willing to help. To his surprise, he was identified as a perfect match for the toddler a year later.
As Tornes reflected on his experience, he encouraged others to join the registry, stating, "It is a really special experience that you can have, that comes at such a small cost to you relative to the impact you can have on another person."
Due to U.S. medical privacy laws, donors and recipients have to wait at least one year before learning the identity of their matches.
The gala also served as a platform to recognize the unwavering commitment and outstanding advocacy of Gift of Life’s supporters. The family of famed television producer and writer, Steven Bochco z”l, presented the annual Steven Bochco Award to Tommy Hartman, a Gift of Life Campus Ambassador at Indiana University Bloomington. Hartman’s efforts have resulted in more than 7,600 donors added to the registry, over 160 matches and 12 transplants facilitated for patients in need. He is also responsible for recruiting 40 new ambassadors at the university and additional students that have joined the program at four other campuses.
Photos and video of the event are available upon request.
About Gift of Life Marrow Registry
Gift of Life Marrow Registry is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. The organization, established in 1991, is dedicated to saving lives by facilitating blood stem cell and bone marrow transplants for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood-related diseases. The registry houses its own state-of-the-art stem cell collection center, biobank, and laboratory. To learn more about Gift of Life Marrow Registry, visit www.giftoflife.org.
Media contact:
Amy Glanzman
Phone: (561) 982-2900
Email: aglanzman@giftoflife.org
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
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