Feel-Good Friday: Bone Marrow Donor Buys More Years for a Man’s Family, Then Forges a Bond With Widow

Jill Thompson is brand director for Inheritance of Hope, a non-profit organization which helps individuals and families navigating terminal illnesses. Thompson creates legacy videos of the special people and families that Inheritance of Hope helps and supports through their medical journey. 

If her career choice doesn’t reflect her heart of compassion and care, Thompson also became a part of the National Bone Marrow Registry. One day in December of 2010, Thompson received the call that she was a match for a complete stranger. This act of giving life is the subject of this week’s Feel-Good Friday.

Bone marrow is the soft and spongy liquid tissue in the center of many of our bones. Ever had beef or lamb shank or beef oxtails and looked at that gooey center in the middle of the bone? That’s the marrow, and its properties for healing and immunity are only now being fully exploited. Humans’ bone marrow creates more than 200 billion new blood cells every day—the whole megillah: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Bone marrow replacement is a relatively new aspect of transplant science, but is gaining greater prominence because patients with formerly catastrophic or incurable diseases like blood disorder aplastic anemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma (a blood cancer) are finding alleviation of their symptoms, increased life span, and even avenues toward a complete cure through a bone marrow transplant. 

According to the Cleveland Clinic, about 30 percent of people who need a bone marrow transplant find a match through their immediate family. The remaining 70 percent rely on the National Bone Marrow Registry to locate a stranger match outside of one’s immediate family.

That was where Thompson came in, when she was matched to Montie Duncan, a 64-year-old Arkansas man with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, the Inheritance of Hope fundraiser page reads: 

In December 2010, our Brand Director, Jill Thompson, received a phone call from the National Bone Marrow Registry that she was a match for a stranger. After further testing, they determined that Jill was a near-perfect match for a 64-year-old man with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and a bone marrow transplant was scheduled.

The transplant gave Duncan a bit more time to spend with his wife, Marla and his adult son, Lance. Sadly, his body was too weak to recover from the transplant. In February 2012, Montie Duncan passed away. But because of Thompson’s gift to the family, his widow reached out to her, and the ladies formed a bond through bone marrow:

Fast forward several years, this man was grateful for the transplant but his body was too weak to survive it. His widow found Jill and a beautiful friendship was forged. These ladies have formed a friendship that goes deeper than the bones….right into the marrow! Every year, Marla donates to Inheritance of Hope to offer hope and community to families facing terminal illness. She does this to honor her late husband, Montie, and his bone marrow donor, Jill.

We are entering Thanksgiving week where we gather with family and friends to give thanks for all that we have. Jump to Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and leap to the next week, which is Giving Tuesday, where opportunities to give back to worthy organizations abound. Because of awesome employees like Jill Thompson, Inheritance of Hope would definitely be one to add to your giving list.

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