I am on the National Marrow Donor Registry to honor my personal hero.

Our story began in 1999. While working for a television station in Virginia, I interviewed an elderly man who was trying to raise money for his daughter, Debbie Parker, a married mother of three, who was dying of liver disease. In the story, I mentioned that Debbie was eligible for a living liver donor, a then-experimental surgery? at the time, the only living liver donor transplants being done involved family members. Within minutes of my news story airing, the television station received a phone call from a viewer, Ken Schuler, who wanted to help.  Ken was a longtime blood donor. He was on the National Bone Marrow Registry and had the same rare blood type, B+, as Debbie.

Within weeks Ken became the first person in the world to donate a portion of his liver to a stranger. When I asked Ken why he made the call to the television station that day he told me that if he was standing on the bank of a river, and saw someone drowning, he wouldn't turn and walk away - he'd dive in and help. That's how he felt when he saw Debbie's story.

Because of Ken, Debbie lived long enough to see her children grow up into adulthood.

The day I listed myself on the National Marrow Donor Registry it was because of Ken. I saw a Public Service Announcement on television that featured a person drowning, and asked 'would you walk away?' The words were taken right out of Ken?s mouth. I immediately found a blood mobile, donated, and became a member of registry.

A couple of years passed, and I continued to donate blood. And one day I received a call, informing me that I was a potential match to be a bone marrow donor. I?m pretty sure the first person I contacted was Ken Schuler! I was so excited. I wanted to help. I underwent additional blood tests, but unfortunately was later told that the patient was unable to undergo a transplant at the time.

Maybe I?ll never be a match again, but maybe I will. And if I am, I know that yet again Ken will be the first person I?ll call. And you know what? I?m sure if I asked him to be by my side during the process, he would be. He?s just that type of guy.