Katharina Harf’s life changed forever when her mother, Mechtild, was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 1990. Her family was told that a bone marrow transplant could save her mother if she could find a matching donor. The search seemed hopeless, however, because at the time there were only 3,000 potential donors available in Germany, where they lived. Katharina’s father, Peter Harf, was desperate to find his wife a donor and with the help of family, friends and volunteers, worked tirelessly to…

http://alicepyne.blogspot.com/

It all started when I was donating blood at Saint Vincent de Paul's one Sunday after Mass. A young lady asked if I would like to sign up to be in the Bone Marrow program. All I could think of initially was needles, pain, and inconvenience. I also thought "what are the chances they would ever really need me?" I did sign up, and listed my sister-in-law as a way to reach me just in case my number changed. In hindsight that turned out well. My wife and I moved months after I put my name on "the…