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In 2015, Hayden Hatfield was studying at the Auburn University in Alabama. Be The Match, a national registry of voluntary bone marrow donors, was installed on its campus.
She decided to sign up, knowing that there was a small chance that she ended up being a match for someone else.
"It's the easiest thing," said Hayden, 25, to Eagle Dothan. "It's a swab – dab your cheek, put it in an envelope and they send it … I thought – there's one like a lucky gazillion I'd be a match, but at least I'm there. "
Meanwhile, in Ventura, California, Todd and Talia Savren-McCormick welcomed their daughter Skye to the world. In her first year of life, Skye has developed several diseases, including juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. She needed a bone marrow transplant.
Near a year after this simple smear on the cheeks, Hayden discovered that she was a match for a little girl.
"I had struggled for a while, I had changed to commander," Hayden said. "I was not sure what I wanted to do with my life and my career I felt really depressed about everything, I had a hard time finding myself and feeling like I was Had a goal, so the more I talked to this coordinator with Be the Match, I started asking myself "and if that's my goal?" "
En July 2016, doctors extracted bone marrow from Hayden's pelvic bone healing path by producing new healthy blood cells.
The path to healing Skye was not easy. lost her spleen and developed lymphoma in the eyelid, neck and back.
"She defied all odds," said Talia Savren-McCormick. "We call her Warrior Skye, and she is the smallest cookie I know. "
Hayden had to remain anonymous for a year, in accordance with the policies of Be The Match.When Skye's birthday came in March, Hayden sent her a birthday present and an invitation to be a maid of honor at her wedding on June 9 in Alabama.
At the rehearsal, Hayden and Skye were facing
"I approached and fell to my knees and all I could do was smile," Hayden told ABC
] During the wedding, Talia Savren-McCormick said that her daughter "came out and took a giant, a handful of flowers and threw them on the floor." honor said that everyone was crying. "
Photographer Mark Broadway captured the special day and the connection between Hayden and Skye.
The 3-year-old threw flower petals while walking in the alley, she wore a beautiful Hayden gift: a small beaded bracelet and a charm bearing her name.
Hayden and Skye hope to see each other again soon.
"They will be part of our She saved the life of our daughter."
