Stem-cell donor fights fires, too.Five years ago, John Jensen John Jensen (born 3 May 1965), nicknamed Faxe, is a former Danish international footballer who is assistant manager at La Liga club Getafe CF. He is known for his temper and is often outspoken in interviews. , while still in training at the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Fire Academy on Randalls Island, signed up to be a bone marrow donor. In September 2003, Jensen received a call from someone at the New York Blood Center New York Blood Center bills itself as the "nation's largest, community-based, non-profit, independent blood center." Founded in 1964, it relies upon a staff of 2,000 volunteers and a much smaller permanent staff in order to supply over 200 hospitals in New York and New Jersey with , informing him that he was a match with a potential recipient suffering from acute leukemia acute leukemia Hematology A rapidly progressive malignancy of sudden onset, characterized by an uncontrolled 'clonal' proliferation of immature WBCs which replace BM and spill into the peripheral circulation; untreated AL may be fatal in wks to months. . Exhibiting the same courage that serves him in his risk-plagued career as a firefighter, Jensen readily agreed to fulfill his pledge. The patient who needed stem cells stem cells, unspecialized human or animal cells that can produce mature specialized body cells and at the same time replicate themselves. Embryonic stem cells are derived from a blastocyst (the blastula typical of placental mammals; see embryo), which is very young from his marrow was Brooke Williams, a 27-year-old mother and college student from the upstate New York Upstate New York is the region of New York State north of the core of the New York metropolitan area. It has a population of 7,121,911 out of New York State's total 18,976,457. Were it an independent state, it would be ranked 13th by population. town of Gouverneur. Anticipating death, Williams had already made funeral arrangements and was planning for her daughter's care after her departure. However, her outlook brightened dramatically when physicians informed her that a matching donor had been found. Preparing to donate his marrow, Jensen had to undergo many medical procedures that tested his commitment. He took three weeks off work and was subjected to a series of blood tests and medical examinations, and received hormone injections to increase his stem-cell production. The injections produced symptoms similar to having the flu, but Jensen was undaunted. "I didn't give it a second thought." Jensen told the Daily News (New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ). "I just feel that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that I didn't help someone." Surgeons transplanted the stem cells that Jensen donated into Williams, and today she is free of leukemia. Jensen learned that she had recovered but, until last month, had not spoken to the fortunate woman. On January 19, Jensen and Joe Kazlauskas, a former New York City firefighter who is now a Nasau County police officer, were honored in a special ceremony held at the FDNY's headquarters in downtown Brooklyn. Brooke Williams, her mother, and her 19-year-old sister traveled over 350 miles to attend the ceremony honoring the man who saved Brooke's life. "Thank God it was him," Williams told the Daily News. "If he hadn't done it, who knows what would have happened?" At the ceremony Kazlauskas also got to meet face-to-face with the recipient of his bone marrow, Glenn Hale, a 66-year-old Arizona retiree who was diagnosed with chronic leukemia chronic leukemia Hematology A malignancy of lymphoid and myeloid stem cells. See Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Chronic myelocytic leukemia. in 1991. Both firefighters' names were added to the "Honor Role of Life" plaque, which lists 72 firefighters who have donated bone marrow. Melinda Caltabiano, the New York Blood Center's director of special donor services told the News: "The Fire Department is the one group that consistently has been so supportive. It's an extension of their everyday lives." |
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