Growing up, Jeremiah Craft witnessed his aunt, “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts, receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant.
Craft’s mother, Sally-Ann Roberts, was a perfect match for her younger sister and contributed the stem cells utilized in her life-saving 2012 transplant.
The Roberts sisters’ experience was exceptional, as 70% of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant do not have a fully-matched donor in their family, according to NMDP, a non-profit organization managing a global marrow registry.
In most circumstances, patients must rely on donations from strangers through the NMDP registry.
With those figures in mind, Sally-Ann Roberts persuaded Craft, then a teenager, to join the NMDP registry, which entails mailing in a simple swab of your inner cheek to help match you to existing or prospective patients.
“Basically, my mom ‘voluntold’ me to sign up, kind of like a mandatory suggestion,” Craft, now 29, told “GMA.”
Several years later, to his astonishment, Craft received a call informing him that he was a match for a stranger.
Craft declined to take part in the transplant. According to the NMDP, less than half of potential donors consent to contribute when they are identified as a match for a variety of reasons.
Courtesy of The Roberts Family
“Unfortunately, at the time, I was just thinking about me,” Craft said of his decision. “It was acting selfishly, and I didn’t heed the call.”
Craft instantly regretted his decision, stating, “Up until this point, I was very, very sure that was going to be the biggest mistake of my life.”
In January, Craft received an unexpected second chance. He received a call from the NMDP informing him that he was once again a match.
“Because I’ve been thinking about that person every day since then, it was just impossible for me not to say yes,” Craft explained of his choice to donate.
According to his mother, Sally-Ann Roberts, “He did not hesitate. “He was prepared.
After deciding to proceed, Craft had five days of injections to boost his blood stem cells in preparation for donation day.
Craft then traveled from New York City to Houston in March to make his donation. Craft’s travel expenses were reimbursed by NMDP in accordance with usual protocol.
According to their website, the group covers all donors’ travel, non-medical fees, and uninsured medical expenses.
Courtesy of The Roberts Family
Before Craft’s giving day, Robin Roberts called him a “superhero.”
“I’m proud of you,” she told her nephew.
Craft expressed gratitude to God for a second chance at saving a life.
“I’m a regular guy trying to do the right thing for the second time,” he told reporters. “I’m just grateful to God that I can go from pretending to be a hero to growing older, learning what is important and actually saving a life.”
Craft was donated through peripheral blood stem cell, or PBSC, donation, a non-surgical method in which blood is extracted from one arm, separated by a machine, and the remaining blood is returned to the other arm, according to NMDP.
Craft’s donation took five hours, but donation times can vary.
The other way of donation is bone marrow transplantation, which is usually a one-day process in which needles are used to extract liquid marrow from the rear of the pelvic bone. According to NMDP, donors usually stay in the hospital from early morning to late afternoon and recover within a few weeks.