Adriana Aviles was four years old when she was diagnosed with leukemia. The now seven-year-old survivor was not only granted a second chance at life, but the opportunity to meet Mike Laureano, the bone marrow donor who saved her.
According to Inside Edition, Laureano decided to join Be the Match’s donor list after his university encouraged him to do so.
“I signed up because it was the right thing to do,” Laureano said. “I was a healthy individual living my life, so if I could help allow someone else to do the same then I, as a human being, have an obligation to do so.”
Adriana was announced cancer-free in 2016. The Aviles family could not be more thankful for Laureano’s decision. Be the Match allows for the recipients and donors to meet a year after the donation has been made. Three years after the procedure, Adriana met her hero.
As soon as Laureano opened the front door, Adriana was embracing him in tears saying, “Thank you so much.”
The smart little girl knows the value of the precious gift she received. Adriana stayed right by her life saver’s side for the rest of the evening.
“We have a bond with him that will last forever,” said Mrs. Aviles. “Words will never explain my gratitude for Mike. I wish I could hand him my heart and let him feel it. Only then would he know what he has done for my family. It is beyond anything a word could describe, it is a feeling.”
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