Oldest Man to Donate Bone Marrow
(Translated by Stanley Peng of Northern California)
On September 5, a
54-year-old civil servant donated his bone marrow for Tzu
Chi's 304th transplant and its 188th case overseas. He is
the oldest male marrow donor in the history of the Tzu Chi
Taiwan Marrow Donor Registry. Despite his age, he was still
physically fit and only had the desire to save a person's
life.
Based on the concept of "respect all
life," and in accordance with Dharma Master Cheng Yen's
teaching that "You can save a life without hurting yourself,"
bone marrow donors not only need to have detailed health checkups,
but must also meet the age requirement. Donors must be between
the ages of eighteen and fifty-five. The marrow registry accepts
blood samples from donors under the age of 45, and their files
are deleted from the database when the donor reaches 55. According
to current registry records, the oldest female donor is Tzu
Chi commissioner Yang Pi-yun, currently 54.
On September 5, the Tzu Chi Medical Center
extracted the bone marrow and delivered it to Seoul, Korea,
by 9 that evening. The recipient was a five-year-old boy with
acute leukemia who required an emergency bone marrow transplant.
The marrow donor happened to be the only person in the world
whose blood matched that of the patient.
This case was the Tzu Chi marrow registry's
304th donation, the 188th donation overseas, and the 18th
donation to Korea. At the age of 54, Tzu Chi's oldest donor
is athletic and looks very young and healthy. He mentioned
that when he was young he was a professional soldier. The
training he received at the military academy built up the
foundation for his good health. Ever since he retired, he
has continued to exercise and has thus been able to maintain
his health and energy.
The donor said that on his days off, he
and his wife regularly take walks in Kaohsiung's Fulun Park.
In 1994, Tzu Chi held its first marrow donor registration
drive in Fulun Park, and he and his wife happened to pass
by. He was already a regular blood donor, and so he and his
wife both gave samples of their blood to register as potential
marrow donors. He also studies the Buddhist dharma and supports
the Tzu Chi spirit. When he was notified that he had been
matched with a patient, he generously agreed to the transplant.
The donor also mentioned that it had been
seven and a half years since he registered as a marrow donor.
Recently he saw a news report on a bone marrow donation to
a patient in Suzhou, China. He was reaching the maximum age
to donate his marrow, but felt disappointed that he himself
had not been successfully matched. Almost immediately, he
received a phone call from Tzu Chi informing him that his
marrow matched that of a patient in Korea, and that his was
the only perfect match in the world.
After discussing it with his wife and receiving
her wholehearted support, he quickly agreed to donate his
bone marrow. He remarked that since he had already voluntarily
given a blood sample at that registration drive, he felt he
had to donate his marrow. Furthermore, not only was his the
only match in the world, but it was also a perfect match.
This was his good fortune, his honor, and the pride of all
Taiwanese.
After twenty-six years of a good, loving
marriage, the couple had participated in the donor registration
drive together. The donor's wife also went with him to the
Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien for the bone marrow extraction
procedure. He prays that after receiving his bone marrow the
Korean patient will have new hope for life, and he looks forward
to the day when they can meet.
