Watch their first encounter in the video below.
Video Credit: KIII 3 News
A family in Sinton had an emotional reunion on Friday when they finally met the woman who gave her bone marrow to save their daughter’s life.
People witnessed heart-touching moment on the Corpus Christi International Airport who hosted the special reunion between Laynie Houser and her bone marrow donor, Alyssa Kohls.
Laynie Houser held a sign that read “Welcome Alyssa” as she joined with her parents and brother at the Corpus Christi airport.
The 11-year-old Sinton girl had never met the woman who saved her life.
The Houser family got the news about her daughter’s illness in May of 2015, their 7-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening disease, Aplastic Anemia. Aplastic anemia is a condition that occurs when your body stops producing enough new blood cells.
Dr. told the family that the only way to save their daughter was to find a bone marrow donor and that was not easy. But luckily the Houser found a match.
“They just kept saying we are working on it, we’re working on it. We have expectations. We are going to find a match, and we did,” said Laynie’s mother, Holly.
Alyssa Kohls, a surgical nurse from Wisconsin was ready to give her bone marrow. She decided to sign up to be a donor when she hosted a bone marrow sign up the drive in college.
“You hear those stories of, ‘Oh, I went on and never got a phone call,’ so I just assumed the same would happen for me and a year and a half later my phone rang and it was unreal,” said Alyssa.
After agreeing to donate and undergo additional tests, Kohl’s bone marrow was sent off to Laynie.
And after two years finally, they met, more than 1,300 miles away.
Now, Alyssa’s bone marrow is inside of Laynie’s body, she saved her and gave her a new life.
“Words can never describe what she means to us,” Holly Houser wrote on Facebook in 2018.
“We are beyond thankful and grateful for what she has done for us.”
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