Indian American is Rare Match for Filipina Patient

A little over 20 years ago, Donna Megino-Dizon clenched her arms together and prayed in church in hopes of finding a marrow donor. After coming home, Megino-Dizon’s family received a call from a bone marrow agency informing them of a potential donor. What Megino-Dizon’s parents didn’t know was that the donor was an Indian American, a rare and perfect marrow match for their Filipina daughter.

Sanjay Yadav of San Jose, Calif., remembers the day in December 1990 when he tagged along with his friend to an annual leukemia cure-a-thon event in San Francisco. Yadav registered as a potential marrow donor that evening, not quite sure what he was getting himself into. Within a week, Yadav found out that he was a prospective match for a patient who desperately needed marrow. Yadav explained to India-West that he was not at all scared or hesitant about the procedure. As he said modestly, he did what any other human being was supposed to do.

Within a couple of weeks, Yadav’s procedure took place at the UCSF Medical Center. The doctors made a few incisions on his hip bone, and for the most part, Yadav was asleep for the remainder of the process. Immediately after, Fran McDermott, a marrow donor recruiter whom Yadav had met during the cure-a-thon, personally transported the marrow to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital where Megino-Dizon patiently waited.

The transplant was successful, but Yadav and Megino-Dizon never met until years after the procedure. For several years after the procedure, they had exchanged inspiring and thoughtful letters. These simple exchanges motivated Yadav to encourage his own family to become registered marrow donors and inform others to register.

“The opportunity to save a life was given to me. And basically, I took it without any hesitation. If another opportunity knocks again, I would do it again,” Yadav told India-West.

In 2009, Megino-Dizon went on to work with the Asian American Donor Program to support those who are currently going through the process of waiting for a donor, or learning that their request has been rejected by a potential donor.

“Losing patients who have fought their battles is always heartbreaking. Knowing they toughed it out to the best of their abilities, kind of eases any sadness,” Megino-Dizon told India-West via e-mail.

McDermott explained that many patients don’t often get to meet their donor in-person. According to McDermott, 25 percent of transplants that occur through her agency, the National Marrow Donor Program in Northern California and the Northwest, are international.

Yadav and Megino-Dizon lived just a couple of miles away from each other in the Bay Area, another rarity that seemed to work in their favor.

“It’s very unusual for a donor to be in each other’s lives, and that’s the very lucky thing about Sanjay and Donna,” McDermott said.

Four years after the transplant, Yadav arranged to meet Megino-Dizon through the Asian American Donor Program. Megino-Dizon had no idea that she would finally meet the man who saved her life. When Yadav first saw Megino-Dizon, he was shocked that the recipient of the marrow was not an Indian American, as he had previously thought.

“I assumed the recipient would be of Indian descent since the chances of matching one Indian to another is pretty high up there,” said Yadav. Nonetheless, Yadav was very happy to see the woman whose life he had saved.

Megino-Dizon was similarly excited. “I felt numb, almost as if it was an outer body experience. I was completely overwhelmed and filled with joy,” said Megino-Dizon.

According to AADP executive director Carol Gillespie, finding a donor takes a long time, even if it’s a donor of the same ethnicity.

“Both Sanjay and Donna are from completely different ethnic backgrounds, which isn’t too common. I’ve never seen it before. But just because someone is of a different ethnic group doesn’t mean that it can’t be the perfect match. Our overall message is hope. We hope that potential donors will go forward and donate,” Gillespie told India-West via phone.

On Aug. 20, 2011, Megino-Dizon married her fiancée whom she had met through a mutual friend. During the Filipino and Catholic wedding ceremony, Yadav was given the opportunity to serve as a principal sponsor and sign Megino-Dizon’s marriage license. Yadav told India-West that he feels as though he has “gained a Filipino family in return.”

“A lot of people call me a hero, but I tell them I’m not. A lot of the credit is also given to me, but the credit should go to the parents because they are the ones that stood by Donna and went through the pain and suffering of almost having to lose their child. There are just no words to describe it,” said Yadav.