Woman Comes To Colorado To Meet Woman Who Saved Her Life
DENVER (CBS4) - There was an emotional meeting at Denver International Airport this weekend. A woman from California finally met the Colorado woman who saved her life.
Fran Waldman was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2010. The disease is usually deadly. Instead of a death sentence, Waldman was given a second chance at life because a woman from Evergreen was the perfect match for a bone marrow transplant.
"I've never met this woman, I've only talked to her on the phone and I'm just really nervous to meet her but I'm just so excited," donor Jane Weinfeld said.
It's was a moment that the two women have waited for more than year.
"I was called about year and a half ago to be a bone marrow donor for an unknown recipient, a woman who had leukemia," Weinfeld said.
"This is overwhelming, beyond a gift, this is a miracle of life," Waldman said.
"It's such a big deal because this young lady gave that young lady life," Waldman's husband Harvey Waldman said.
After the donation the two were only allowed to communicate anonymously until at least a year had passed. Instead of Jane and Fran, they picked nicknames for each other -- Iris and Lilly. Each brought a bouquet of the flowers to their first meeting.
While the two call each other sisters now, it seems as though they were never really strangers.
"It's so overwhelming and awesome to meet my blood sister," Waldman said.
"I feel like we're just long lost friends that hadn't seen each other in years," Weinfeld said.
Weinfield signed up for the Donor Registry in 2000 and was never a match until last year.
