CALEDONIA, Mich. (WOOD) — Ten years after a Kent County man saved his life with a bone marrow transplant, Bob Falkenberg is bicycling across the United States.
It’s a grueling ride, but his journey to recovery has been, too.
“I was perfectly healthy one day, and about four days later I was getting in-patient chemo,” Falkenberg told 24 Hour News 8 Tuesday afternoon.
He stopped in Caledonia during his cross-country ride, visiting bone marrow donor Jason Rottman.
“He saved my life, literally,” Falkenberg said. “I would’ve died. It’s that simple.”
Falkenberg said he wants to bring hope to patients while also encouraging new donors to help fill a critical need.
The call for donations from minority groups is even more urgent. Falkenberg said that African-Americans only have a 30% chance of finding a match. He said it’s even less for people of mixed races.
“It’s a pretty rough process and you wonder what the rest of your life is going to be like,” Falkenberg said.
Rottman described the donation of bone marrow stem cells as a quick and painless process.
People who register to donate still have the choice to decline if they’re called. Obviously, donation organizations and patients hope that will not be the case.
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