(The following was written by my stepdaughter Michele Bresnick Walsh, one of the most courageous and giving individuals I have ever known. Please read her incredible story and consider donating to this cause; doing so can save a life!--Chuck Cascio)

Save lives. Provide hope. Help those impacted by blood cancer.

by

Michele Bresnick Walsh

      I am participating in our 7th Heropalooza (and first virtual one) in honor of Lisa Rostaing, the woman to my left in the picture below. Lisa is a true hero who saved my life by donating her bone marrow to me on March 4, 2009. 

     In October 2008, just three weeks after Mike Walsh proposed to me, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Because of the type of leukemia I had, the doctors at Johns Hopkins knew that chemotherapy alone would not cure my cancer. I needed a bone marrow transplant, and my sister was not a match. So we had to turn to the national bone marrow registry. Luckily, I found a perfect match in Lisa. She had never met me and didn't know anything about me, yet she donated her bone marrow to me and saved my life. I wouldn’t be here today if Lisa, a random stranger from Los Angeles, had not gotten on the bone marrow registry back in 2005 and stepped up to the plate when she received the call to donate her marrow.

     Because of Lisa, I was able to return to work full time, I am happily married, and I have a full head of hair again! Since we met in 2010, we have had the opportunity to go on vacation in the Bahamas together, attend a taping of the Ellen Show, and in 2014, I had the honor and privilege of attending her wedding. And, now she has two beautiful children. 

     I have been cancer free for over 11 years now, and in celebration of my 11th re-birthday, I am attempting to raise $11,000 to support There Goes My Hero (www.theregoesmyhero.org), a 501(c)(3) organization of which I am the immediate Past-President, with the mission of saving lives, providing hope and helping those impacted by blood cancer.

     To date, There Goes My Hero has added almost 22,000 people to the bone marrow registry, of which 365 have been potential matches and 42 have gone on to life-saving transplants. We have also funded over 150,000 meals to patients and families in need. And our newly established Hero Fund supports Baltimore area blood cancer patients and their families by covering the unanticipated costs of treatment. This includes meals during treatment, medically tailored meals post-discharge, transportation, parking, and copays.

Please consider donating to my fundraising efforts. And if you want to help in my fundraising efforts, please see my team page--Team Brez--and join the team. If you are not already on the bone marrow registry, please ask me about how to do so--it's just a simple cheek swab. I am lucky that I found my match, but there are still so many others who can’t find one. Please help us in our mission to find a match for every person who needs one!

     Because of COVID-19, we could not hold the annual race and crab feast event in person. But I still plan to run a 5K in my neighborhood to honor Lisa. Blood cancer doesn’t understand the concept of social distancing, so notwithstanding COVID-19, the need for bone marrow matches continues to grow.