Pilot had 5% survival rate after leukemia diagnosis—an 18-year-old stranger’s gesture gave him new life
When life feels bleak and there’s little to no hope to hold onto, every single effort another offers to help, makes a difference. No one can forget the person who came through for them when they needed it most. United Airlines pilot, Captain David Whitson, was struggling when he learned he had acute myeloid leukemia, as stated by CNN. When even his closest family and friends were no match for a life-saving treatment, the man had almost given up hope. With a 5% chance of survival, then 18-year-old Allie Reimold came to his rescue. As a student back then, she was still figuring out life but unexpectedly got a chance to save one — she jumped right to it.
According to the American Cancer Society, acute myeloid leukemia is a type of blood cancer that grows in the bone marrow and quickly starts spreading to the blood. Due to its quick progression, it needs to be treated at the earliest. At the age of 44, the man received the heartbreaking diagnosis and things were getting serious very quickly. After one round of chemotherapy, the pilot was told he had a 5% survival rate because the genetic mutation of the cancer was “really bad.” “I couldn’t even walk five steps. I couldn’t move. I could barely move my legs. I couldn’t sit up, I couldn’t even get out of bed,” Whitson recalled.
The pilot kept his hopes high and went through two more rounds of chemo. He kept faith, prayed and did his best with small steps. However, things were looking bleak for him. Whitson learned that the only way out was to have his blood replaced with healthy blood. Unfortunately, his family and friends were no match. The doctors decided to look into the registry and that’s when they chanced upon Reimold. The behavioral sciences undergrad had given her details to the National Marrow Donor Program four years earlier and when she got the call that she matched with Whitson, she was eager.
“I really wanted to be able to help someone in this type of way and I think that’s also because of my interest in public health and my interest in medicine,” Reimold remarked. She had no idea whom she would be a donor to, except for the basics but she was ever-ready to give a life-saving gift. She went through the procedure to donate peripheral blood stem cells. “You’re a little sore, you’re a little tired but you get to go home that night and it’s really, really rewarding,” the 18-year-old said. It would be a long time before she could meet the recipient so she went on with her life.
Meanwhile, Whitson received the blood cells from this stranger, extremely grateful for life. “Stem cells are like seeds, and they went into my bone and planted, and they grew her blood,” he explained. The procedure was a success and for the next 18 months, the pilot worked towards recovering and returning to the airlines. After the long wait, the duo and their families finally met. David still gets emotional about it. “It’s still overwhelming to me that a stranger would take the time to save my life. It just gave me hope,” he remarked.
Ever grateful for this gift of life, the duo still meet on and off, the most delightful meeting being their coincidental catching up at airports or on flights, as revealed by Inside Edition. Reimold, now a cancer prevention public health researcher at the University of California, is grateful for the opportunity. “I can’t believe that much time has gone by. I would still to this day absolutely do it again,” she remarked.