The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Giving the gift of time
Pottstown woman’s donation gives Texas woman another year to live
Area woman donates blood stem cells to woman in Texas.
It’s not every day that a person is able to give someone the gift of more time.
Linda Chesney, a resident of Pottstown, got the opportunity to do just that after being touched by the opportunity to help a person in need. Because of Chesney’s blood stem cell donation, a nonsurgical procedure to collect blood-forming cells for bone marrow transplants, a woman in Texas was able to spend another year with her family.
“I lived in Harrisburg. When I was out of college, there was a family that needed blood stem cells for their son. He was 5 or 6. The family didn’t match and they put a sign out asking for blood donations for tests. They asked if I was willing to stay on if I didn’t match and I stayed on the list. I moved to West Chester and then to Pottstown and stayed on their list. In January or February of 2005 they called and said I was a 95 percent match for this woman and asked if I would consider it,” explained Chesney.
That was the beginning of Chesney’s memorable experience with changing someone’s life, an experience she said has been even more rewarding having finally met the family of the woman she helped after several years.
“I’m a double time stem cell donor and it was back in 2005 I was working for Montgomery County. In June 2005 I took personal time off because I was a match for a 61-year-old woman in Texas with leukemia. In 2006 I was asked to donate again because she had a relapse. I asked if I could find out who she was. I found out that she was in the hospital and passed away on July 6 of 2006 but her family wanted to get in touch,” explained Chesney.
Chesney later found out that her donation went to a woman named Mary Blackwood, the wife of Texas state Sen. Bill Blackwood who served on the legislature from 1987 to 1993. Chesney then spent the years since Blackwood’s death writing back and forth with Blackwood’s family, specifically her sister, Ruth.
Just last week, Chesney got the opportunity to meet her family in person when she was called to Dallas for work. Following their meeting, Chesney said the experience was everything she hoped it would be and that meeting her recipient’s family touched her in ways she wasn’t expecting.
“She put some photos together of her sister for history of the family and all and she wanted to share that with me,” explained Chesney. “I was surprised that she had a picture of me and my husband in her book that she put together and that she had noted that I was the donor. They even kept the card I sent.”
Chesney said Ruth was excited to meet her and thanked her for being willing to donate her blood stem cells twice, a procedure that Chesney said was quite simple.
“It’s an in and out type of donation,” said Chesney. “You get injections, and it brings bone marrow up to the surface to your skin so when you do the donation, it’s easier for the blood to be taken out. So they then process it and take out the blood cells.”
Since Chesney first donated blood stem cells in 2005, Montgomery County has adopted a donor leave policy that doesn’t require county employees to take personal time off for such donations. Chesney said she’s pleased with the policy and hopes it encourages more people to donate to those in need.
“Blood stem donations make a difference not only in the life of the person that receives it but in the life of the loved ones around the person receiving it. Ruth mentioned how she was able to spend some more quality time with her sister that she was able to stay with her at her house to help support her. It touches all people it doesn’t matter who you are,” said Chesney.