By EMS1 Staff
WAILUKU, Hawaii — An EMT is being credited with saving a cancer patient’s life after donating his stem cells.
The Maui News reported that Wailuku EMT Wayne Segundo has never met the 39-year-old Australian woman, but already considers her family.
“I would love to hear her story and call her my sister,” Segundo said. “She would be an addition to our family for sure.”
Segundo wants to draw more first responders to the Be The Match registry – a program that connects patients with bone marrow donations.
“Our job is to help the sick and injured, but now we can help in a different way,” he said. “A year, 10 years later, you could be called upon and you could literally save a life, cure a disease for this one person who is in such need, and hope one day you can see each other face to face.”
The woman Segundo helped had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia – a rare blood disease. He said he didn’t hesitate when he got the call from Be The Match.
The process was successful; Segundo was able to give 55 million stem cells to the woman. Segundo said it was “very humbling” to donate and that he would do it again.