Airman sent home to donate bone marrow

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Dawn M. Harris
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
While the war is waged and aircraft launch in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, another kind of mission is taking place ... a potentially life saving mission.

Col. Erik Hearon, the regional air movement and control center director, jumped aboard an Air Mobility Command aircraft recently in hopes of saving not his own, but the life of someone he has never met before.

This story starts nearly five years ago when Hearon met a senior master sergeant from the Florida Air National Guard.

"She told me how she registered for marrow donation and was selected and how much it had affected her life," said Hearon.

Hearon did not waste any time contacting the Department of Defense Marrow Donor Center.

"I organized a bone marrow registration drive at my Jackson, Miss., Guard unit and had 150 people register," he said.

During the initial registration, a vial of blood is taken from each person and tested for human leukocyte antigen or tissue type. Once the type has been established, it is entered into a database where the information stays until the donor becomes a potential match. When a match is made, the donor is contacted and asked it he or she wishes to move on with the process. If the donor decides to, a second blood sample is taken and sent to the center to complete a more extensive HLA test. In Hearon's case, the second test took a little more effort than usual.

The center sent a letter to Hearon telling him that his marrow matched a 45-year-old woman who is suffering from acute myelogeneous leukemia -- an advanced form of leukemia. The letter also asked for a second screening.

"The letter was actually sent to my house in Mississippi, and my wife faxed it to me," he said. Since Hearon was deployed, he was unable to complete the second screening in the United States.

The 379th Expeditionary Medical Group was able to assist Hearon by taking blood samples for the marrow center. Once the marrow center received the samples, they determined that Hearon was the best match for the patient.

"She is very sick and needs the marrow as soon as possible," he said. "My boss was very understanding and supportive of me going back to the states to have the procedure."

Hearon has flown to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington where he will have his bone marrow extracted.

According to Hearon, the procedure will take less than two hours. He will have an epidural followed by a local shot in the hip to numb the area. Then, doctors will use a "large needle to go into the hip bone and extract the marrow," he said.

Hearon said he is excited to have such an opportunity.

"I'm looking forward to it. It's such a wonderful opportunity, and I appreciate the Air Force letting me go back to do this," he said.

Hearon will not meet the female recipient for at least one year following the transplant, he said.

"I hope the transplant helps her, and I look forward to meeting her in the future," he said.