Stepping up as a bone marrow donor for a sibling

In this episode of From Bench to Bedside and Beyond, Jenn Vehrs recounts her experience as a 7-year-old
Video by Stefan Muehleis / Fred Hutch News Service

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When Jenn Vehrs was 7 years old, she served as a bone marrow donor for her brother, who had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Both Vehrs and her twin sister were matches, so their mother had to make a choice. Vehrs has a distinct memory of how that decision was determined, which involved  a dark closet and a fortuitous flip of a coin.

Vehrs is still involved with donors, albeit of a different kind, as Fred Hutch Cancer Center’s program director for donor marketing. In this episode, she talks about the fear she felt leading up to being a donor for her younger brother and the pride she feels now, nearly four decades later.

Listen to the audio interview
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Tune in for more episodes of From Bench to Bedside and Beyond. And if you’re interested in being a guest, please reach out to brochman@fredhutch.org.

bonnie-rochman

Bonnie Rochman is a senior editor and writer at Fred Hutch Cancer Center. A former health and parenting writer for Time, she has written a popular science book about genetics, "The Gene Machine: How Genetic Technologies Are Changing the Way We Have Kids—and the Kids We Have." Reach her at brochman@fredhutch.org.

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Are you interested in reprinting or republishing this story? Be our guest! We want to help connect people with the information they need. We just ask that you link back to the original article, preserve the author’s byline and refrain from making edits that alter the original context. Questions? Email us at communications@fredhutch.org

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