Thank You, Stranger: A bone marrow donor halfway across the world saved this woman's life

NINA MOINI: It's time for another episode of our series called Thank You, Stranger. It's about how the little kindnesses from others can change our lives. Lisa Korslund from Edina talked to NPR producer Ellen Finn about a stranger halfway across the world who saved her life.

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LISA KORSLUND: So in 2010, we were living in Switzerland, and I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I was 52 years old and with three kids. For a 52-year-old woman, it's basically there's only one route to go, and that is to a bone marrow transplant, because I had one year if I didn't get it. And he said, you're going to have one year if you don't get a transplant.

But you need a match. And that match is somewhat complicated. It's not as simple as a blood type.

ELLEN FINN: A match is based on human leukocyte antigens. It's important to have a very similar genetic makeup as your donor.

LISA KORSLUND: Your family is your first stop, because your siblings each have a 25% chance of matching. My three siblings, they went, and they gave blood, and they got tested, and they were not a match for my bone marrow. And I wasn't going to go down quickly or without a fight.

I had three kids to raise, and my husband, we had a lot going on. Honestly, at night, did I take a deep breath and have a small cry? Yes, I did. Did I say a lot of prayers? Yes, I did. And hoped that, A, there was somebody out there, and, B, they would say, yes, I'll donate.

ELLEN FINN: Lisa went to the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, which is based in Minneapolis. It has a registry of tens of millions of people who chose to swab their cheek or give a blood sample to offer themselves as marrow donors.

LISA KORSLUND: And so they turned to the registry, and they put your information in, and they search for a donor. I was in bad shape by the time I got to the hospital. You go in and say, is there any news? And the doctor that day, that he says, we found a match.

And I hope that they say "yes" when the phone rings. Luckily, when Rika in Germany was called, and you're on pins and needles, she said, yes, she would donate. You just have this sense of relief.

And you're like, OK, so now I've got hope. I've got a chance. Rika was 21. She had joined the registry at 16.

ELLEN FINN: Donors go through a medical process that lasts a few days. Doctors gave Rika drugs to make sure she had enough cells to donate. It gives patients flu-like symptoms.

LISA KORSLUND: She said, oh, I felt like I had the flu. But I'm in college, And so I skipped class, and I watched movies. I think it was Bridget Jones.

I always laugh. I can just see her watching Bridget Jones while she's feeling a little flu-like.

ELLEN FINN: Doctors transferred Rika's marrow to Lisa. It was a long but smooth recovery. The entire time, Lisa was thinking of Rika.

LISA KORSLUND: I feel so fortunate, blessed, lucky. Rika and I were a perfect match. So for two years, we just wrote letters back and forth.

There's no real way to say thank you to somebody for saving your life. But you say it. Thank you for giving me the time with my kids, with my husband, with life, my family.

What you did, I don't know that you'll ever fully understand it, but I can never say thank you enough. I get all teary on all this. But she is constantly, hey, I did nothing. You're the one that had to go through a lot of rubbish.

You're the one that went through it. And all I did was watch Bridget Jones, and get some tests, and go do this donation for a day. That's all I did. And she's written that from the first day on.

And then it's all about, how are you doing? Tell me about your kids. That's her. It's been 15 years, which I think is a big milestone. I'm having a birthday because a young woman in Germany answered an email that said, will you consider going through a donation process? And she said "yes."

NINA MOINI: That was Lisa Koslund from Edina talking to NPR producer Ellen Finn. Do you have a story of kindness from a stranger that you'd like to share? Just head to our Thank You, Stranger series page at mprnews.org.