CHICAGO (CBS) — Stem cell donations save lives – and are often a selfless act to help a stranger.
But one case involving a Chicago man with leukemia shows that it can help the donor too – in profound ways.
Cameras rolled as Marquis Williams met and hugged Renee Smith – the woman who saved his life.
“All I could do was give her a hug, cry and say thank you,” Williams said.
Williams was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017.
“The first thing I thought about was, how much time do I have left?” Williams said. “And that’s not the nicest thought you can have.”
Williams underwent several treatments, but the cancer returned and doctors said he needed a stem cell transplant.
He found Smith through a stem cell registry. She lives near Atlanta.
“Growing up, I always wanted to do something to help someone. I never had the money to go out there and do it,” Smith said. “So when the opportunity presented itself – they said, ‘Hey, you could help save a life’ – I jumped at it.”
Smith registered as a stem cell donor in 2014.
“When I did it, I thought I would never be a match,” she said.
Williams underwent the transplant in 2019. About a year later, he started talking to Smith.
“We met on Zoom. My parents were with me. My wife was with me,” Williams said. “It was just tears, and just making plans to finally meet.”
While Williams had been given a new lease on life, Smith was falling on hard times himself.
“Life kept pushing me back, pushing me back, pushing me back — and I was ready to give up,” Smith said when she broke down. “I was ready to give up because a part of me was lost. A part of me was gone.”
But she said talking to Williams gave her strength.
“Just talking to him, being able to hear his story, being able to hear how hard he fought,” Smith said. “If this guy I don’t even know can fight so hard, why can’t I?”
In fact, Smith said Williams also saved her life.
“He helped me in so many ways. He didn’t let me give up. He didn’t know me,” Smith said. “I saved his life, but he saved mine.”
And Smith told Williams the same thing.
“It was very difficult for me to process that,” Williams said. “But once it sank in, I said, you know what? There was a purpose to it. This was done for a reason.”
Smith and Williams met in person in Atlanta last summer at a gala for the stem cell registry called Gift of Life. The event that brought the two together for a connection turned out to be life-changing for both.
“If I could sum it up in one word I would say it would be magical, absolutely magical,” Williams said.
“I tell people he’s not my blood brother, he’s my stem cell brother,” Smith added.
Williams underwent the stem cell transplant at UChicago Medicine.
Smith is now trying to plan a trip to Chicago to spend some time with him.
