Officer to donate bone marrow to save sick child
SAN JOSE >> Long before Jesse Villaescusa became a San Jose cop, he was in boot camp with the Marine Corps and took a cheek swab to register himself in the military’s bone marrow registry.
The quiet gesture was fueled in part by the memory of a childhood friend who was stricken with a blood disease, and survived when the friend’s brother turned out to be a marrow match.
The memory was tucked away in the back of his mind until this past April. Six years after that swab, he got a call from the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Recruitment and Research Program. Suddenly, he was told he had the opportunity to save the life of a child.
“I had honestly forgotten I was put on the registry,” Villaescusa said. “Then the confusion turned into excitement.” The second-year San Jose police officer and Lincoln High School graduate is prohibited from disclosing much else about who he will be helping and where the recipient lives. But once he was told he was a match, he said it was a quick decision to make.
“I was just born with the right blood, born lucky. I’m happy to do it, and I’m really glad that I’m being given the opportunity to help some-
body out in that way,” he said.
Villaescusa, 29, alluded to how his friend was saved by a bone marrow match.
“The fact that it is a child, it hits home a little bit more,” he said.
The officer plans to travel to the undisclosed donation site later this month, and will be on modified duty afterward while he recovers. The procedure will be performed in an outpatient setting and involve specialized needles used to extract liquid marrow from the back of the pelvic bone.
His doctors tell him his recovery time can span from a few days to a week and a half.
Villaescusa was matched based on his entry into the Department of Defense marrow registry, which focuses on military personnel and can be found online at salutetolife.org.
Most people interested in being registered can join the National Marrow Donor Program, which can be researched online at bethematch.org.
San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia said the officer’s gesture and willingness is admirable and exemplifies the spirit of service he expects from his department.
“It makes us proud. He’s going to save a life,” Garcia said.
“It’s another way we’re able to humanize ourselves and show the community we truly care.”