The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Kelly Carrington Staff Writer When Cheryl Pogue was told her bone marrow was not a match for a cousin in need, she still wanted to give the gift of life. So Pogue, a Denare Beach resident, remained on the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry. A few years later, her phone rang. The registry told her she was a possible match for a patient in need. 'Lots of times you're never a match for anyone,' said Pogue, 'but if you're chosen, it's pretty amazing.' Erin Barone was an eight-year-old New Jersey girl who needed a bone marrow transplant. Six years earlier, in 1997, she had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at New Jersey's Hackensack University Medical Centre. Pogue knew she was a possible match for a patient, but was not told who it was. Through the registry, recipients and donors remain anonymous for the first year. Pogue was in Calgary on Oct. 22, 2003 to have bone marrow extracted to help save the life of the little girl. Now nine years later, to media fanfare, Pogue and Barone, now 17, have met for the first time. As a rule, donors and recipients are not allowed contact for a full year after the procedure. Following that year, both Barone and Pogue received letters asking if they wanted to contact one another. Both sides immediately agreed. 'We've been e-mailing, Facebooking and writing letters for eight years now,' an emotional Pogue said. Roughly 3,500 kilometres away from New Jersey, Pogue knew she would some day meet Barone _ she just didn't know when. Last month, while visiting family in the Ottawa area, Pogue and husband Les took the eight-hour drive to New Jersey to meet Barone and her family. See 'Meeting...' pg. 9 Continued from pg. 1 The families arranged to meet on Oct. 22, 2012 _ Barone's ninth Miracle Birthday; a term given to patients on the day of their transplant. 'It was pretty amazing for sure,' said Cheryl. The families celebrated Barone's Miracle Birthday with cake, a supper and decorations. What started as a chance for the families to meet, along with the nurses and doctors who performed Barone's surgery, quickly snowballed into a media event. The story was covered by nine reporters _ four from TV stations and five from newspapers. CBS New York ran a TV news segment and a story on its website entitled 'N.J. Teen Meets Bone Marrow Donor Who Helped Save Her Life 9 Years After Transplant.' Cheryl admits she isn't one to be the centre of attention but agreed to have media from the New Jersey area around as a 'great way to promote' to donor registry. Cheryl, Barone and their families then spent the weekend together. 'They were great tour guides,' Cheryl said. 'They showed us the weekend of a lifetime.' Touring aside, the retired Creighton School Division employee says it was an emotional time for which she is very grateful. 'There were lots of tears,' said Cheryl, again with tears in her eyes. Being able to see Barone and her family in person was a major event for Cheryl, who is humble about the donation she provided. 'We just hugged,' Cheryl said, referring to meeting Barone's mother for the first time. 'She hung onto me and looked to the family and said, 'I'm sorry to be hugging her for so long, but I can't let her go.'' Over the years they were in contact, Cheryl heard many times from the Barone family how appreciative they are. 'It was just nice to get to see each other,' said Cheryl. 'We spent so much time talking we felt (like) we knew each other.' At the end of the visit, Cheryl said Barone's grandmother hugged her and said she didn't want the perfect weekend to end. Barone is now a happy, healthy 17-year-old doing all the normal things teenagers do _ including taking dance classes. Cheryl laughed a little in saying 'nine years (later) and I'm still so emotional.' 'It was just such a little thing on my part,' she said. To donate bone marrow, Cheryl had travelled to Calgary for the necessary testing and procedure. She met with numerous doctors to make sure she was making a decision she was going to stick with. 'It was no big deal for me _ miss a couple of days of work...and (have) a little bit of pain,' she said. 'I was black and blue across my back. But that's nothing compared to what (Barone) went through.' After Barone was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1997, the then-eight-year-old underwent procedures and fell into remission but relapsed twice. Doctors informed Barone if a transplant was not performed, her chance of survival would diminish to zero. 'For six years she was sick and relapsed twice,' said Cheryl. 'For me, it was nothing compared to what you can do for a person and her family. 'They just can't thank me enough. They are looking at me like a hero (but) I'm just honoured to be able to help.' If the chance arose again to be a donor, Cheryl says she would 'do it again in a heartbeat.' On average 25 pediatric bone marrow transplants are performed each year at the Hackensack University Medical Centre. Cheryl said some of the doctors and nurses involved had never met a donor before. 'It was neat. And it was exciting (for them) to meet someone who had helped,' she said. Cheryl found out while on the trip that she was the first Canadian donor match at the Hackensack University Medical Centre. Becoming a donor has its challenges when living in Denare Beach as residents are required to travel out of town for testing. 'Unless you're affected by it personally, a lot of people wouldn't think to do it,' Cheryl said. Today, Cheryl, Les and their children remain donors on the registry. When the call came that Cheryl was a possible match for a child, she says her family was very excited. '...they were all wishing it was them,' she said proudly. 'They knew it was no big deal on my part.' Having been on the other end of the search and waiting for her cousin to receive a transplant, Cheryl said it all came full circle. 'They were all very excited that someone had found an unrelated match (and) we can give back now,' she said.
