- New York police officer Greg Holgerson was told a stem cell donation was his finest chance of survival and Sue Harrison was found to be a perfect match
- The pair had been exchanging letters complying with the transplant in 2014
- They finally met this month which Mr Holgerson said was ‘unbelievable’
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A 9/11 hero that was diagnosed along with leukaemia – which was brought on by his efforts complying with the terror attack on the Globe Trade Focus – has actually found a stem cell donor after a global search.
New York police officer Greg Holgerson was told a stem cell donation was his finest chance of survival and Sue Harrison, from Northampton, was found to be a perfect match.
The pair had been exchanging letters complying with the transplant in 2014 and finally had a opportunity to fulfill earlier this month.
Mr Holgerson said: ‘It was an unbelievable moment to finally fulfill Sue in individual and offer her a big hug – she’s my hero.
‘It’s impossible to discover the words to sum up just what she has actually done for me and family. ‘Thank you’ simply doesn’t appear enough. Put simply, if it wasn’t for her I could not be here today.
‘I feel lucky to have actually a donor yet I’m more fortunate to have actually Sue since she is so lovely. It’s been outstanding to share our various sides of the story and to prove to her the impact her donation has actually had. She feels adore section of the family now.’
New York police officer Greg Holgerson along with Sue Harrison, after the British woman saved the life of the 9/11 hero by carrying out a transatlantic stem cell donation
The pair embrace after they finally met this month which the police officer described as ‘unbelievable’
Mr Holgerson, 42, had been a police officer for a year-and-a-half prior to the 2001 attack. He had been off-duty once the attack happened, and was called in to help.
‘We watched it on TV and once the second plane strike we knew something truly wasn’t right and it may be an attack,’ he said.
‘It was scary – you had both planes yet you didn’t understand if there were going to be more.
‘Concerning 5pm they sent us over to relieve the guys that were there. We saw all of the terrible destruction yet we had to secure the location and recommendations along with the recovery in any sort of method we could.
‘Everyone there was covered in dust and debris. It looked adore it was snowing, it was simply surreal. I was born and raised in Brand-new York and it was heartbreaking to see. There were so several innocent lives taken.’
Twelve years later he was diagnosed along with blood cancer, which his doctors linked to his job in the aftermath of the attack.
‘once I was told it was leukaemia I was devastated. I had two small youngsters and I was only 39 years old. It was all of Brand-new to me and you believe the worst,’ he said.
‘As somebody that was involved in 9/11, I heard there were a great deal of individuals obtaining sick yet it didn’t truly cross my mind that it could happen to me or why I was sick.
‘once I very first went in to the hospital they knew I was a police officer and they asked me if was I down at the Globe Trade Focus on the day and the complying with days and they told me Concerning the link between the two. You see a lot more and a lot more individuals that were down there obtaining sick – it’s not a coincidence.’
Mr Holgerson said: ‘It was an unbelievable moment to finally fulfill Sue in individual and offer her a big hug – she’s my hero’
The police officer said: ‘once I was told it was leukaemia I was devastated. I had two small youngsters and I was only 39 years old. It was all of Brand-new to me and you believe the worst’
After undergoing several courses of chemotherapy he went in to remission yet a year later the cancer returned and he was told his finest chance was to discover a stem cell donor.
Ms Harrison, 52, signed up to the Anthony Nolan register in the 1980s once she joined her early twenties.
She said: ‘I signed up after I met my husband Robert, that lost his mother to leukaemia sadly once there wasn’t a register about to help. I simply believed why not? It didn’t involve as well a lot effort from me and it seemed adore a worthwhile thing to do. I put my card in the drawer and simply permanently forgot Concerning it.
‘It was a genuine shock to hear I was a fulfill so several years later. I was surprised by exactly how couple of individuals actually grab a fulfill so it was pretty special.’
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Mr Holgerson was diagnosed along with leukaemia which doctors believe was brought on by his efforts complying with the terror attack on the Globe Trade Center
Strict anonymity rules usually mean that donors do not have actually the opportunity to fulfill recipients for at least two years after a transplant has actually taken place, the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity said.
After exchanging letters for two years, the pair finally met this month.
Ms Harrison said: ‘It was pretty emotional to fulfill Greg, I can’t imagine just what he’s seen and been through, it simply appears so unfair that he got his cancer through aiding others.
‘He frequently says he can’t thank me enough yet seeing his family with each other and learning those youngsters will certainly have the ability to mature along with their dad, his wife along with a husband, is thanks enough for me.’
