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Bone Marrow donor: who would have thought it would lead to such attention?
You could say Northshore’s newspaper
family has a large alumni – in numbers at least – and there remains
a strong, nostalgic feeling among many of them for their days spent in
varying aspects of the operation of the Northshore Citizen;
helping to record local history for over nearly 100 years. Interesting
“life after the Citizen” stories abound. Margaret
and Bob Smith chose the bucolic life of northeastern Washington about
five years ago after years in the metropolitan confines of Seattle and
its suburbs. It hasn’t left them detached from the rest of the world
by any means, however. After cutting his journalistic teeth at the Northshore Citizen early on, Bob spent 18 years with Boeing in the Puget Sound region as a communications and public relations manager.
married
in 1990. Their son Blake is nine and he is joined by 4-year-old Mia who
joined the family six months ago when the couple traveled east to
experience the tedious process of adoption in Russia. The family of four
now resides at the Inn at the Lake eight miles south of Newport, where
innkeepers Bob and Maggie are fully engaged in the entrepreneurial
experience of owning and operating bed and breakfast accommodations
overlooking Diamond Lake. Together they have learned to prepare gourmet
breakfasts and change bed sheets. Hard to believe
that one would gain national celebrity from such a quiet corner of
America but it happened for Maggie this November in print and on
television. In 2001, Maggie decided to become a bone-marrow donor. “What
motivated Margaret to become a bone marrow donor was the illness and
subsequent death of my twin sister from a malignant brain tumor,”
writes Bob from Newport. Bob and his sister Becky “sat helpless as she fought a seven-year battle to regain her health, only to have the tumor regrow and claim her life. Maggie desired to make a positive impact for another family dealing with a serious illness and that’s how the bone marrow donation idea began.”
determined
that Maggie’s marrow met five of the six necessary points, she agreed
to have the marrow extracted for injection into an anonymous recipient
somewhere in the East. The seven-minute transplant procedure took place
on Good Friday of 2001. Maggie received
periodic progress reports until February of 2002 when she learned that
Michael was disease free. The parties agreed to requirements for consent
to contact and in April Maggie and Michael met at a gathering of friends
to celebrate the first anniversary of Michael’s new life and to
“raise a toast to the woman who made it possible.” Michael is a
junior in high school and hopes to someday become a teacher. A lasting
friendship has developed between the two families. To the
McCormicks, Maggie was a true hero. The magazine quoted Maggie, “I
believe when you give to others, good things come back to you – and
they have.” “We and the
McCormicks have become quite close since Margaret first met them in
Philadelphia,” Bob explained. In early September, the Smiths planned
another trip to Philadelphia. “It’s
somewhat ironic that this trip to visit them would turn into quite an
event,” he added. “We received a call from the National Marrow Donor
Program inviting all of us to attend their gala ball in Washington, D.C.
to celebrate the achievement of 20,000 bone marrow transplants being
made in North America. The event coincided with our Philly visit. “And, at the
same time, CBS News’ “The Early Show” invited Margaret and Michael
to appear on the November 22 show to coincide with the “Family
Circle” article.
The TV folks were great – even the floor director asked Margaret what
she needed to do to sign up with the bone marrow donor registry.” Bob conveyed
Maggie’s primary message that “it’s easy to register as a
potential donor; the actual procedure, while not without some
discomfort, is a wonderful way to give a gift of life to someone who is
literally at the end of their rope.”
A more complete account of the “donation” story can be found at www.townofgrace.org/transplant.htm.
A
retirement reception was held December 10 at the Northshore Senior
Center
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The Previous Columns December
1, 2004 Nov.
17, 2004 November
3, 2004 October
20, 2004 October
6, 2004 Sept
15, 2004 Sept.
1, 2004 August
18, 2004 August
4, 2004 July
21, 2004 July
7, 2004 |
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John
B. Hughes |
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Hughes
serves
as grand marshal |
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Hugo
and (425) 482-4076 |
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