I was born with a rare form of dwarfism which also caused me to be born with no immune system. I didn’t get sick until I was about 8 months old which put me in reverse isolation at the top floor of Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. I needed a stem cell transplant, and the doctors told my family my best match would be someone in my family, who was Jewish and also someone in Canada. That’s not who saved my life; my donor is in the USA, and my family still keep in contact. For a bone marrow transplant it is very hard to get a perfect match, and a couple months after my first birthday I received my transplant which gave me a second chance at life.
