A 5-year-old boy with a rare condition was able to meet the 71-year-old man whose hundreds of blood donations over the years helped save his life and the lives of many others.
Five-year-old Wesley Rea was born with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a disease that affects one in 60,000 newborns. It impairs the immune system, leaving the child unable to fight even the smallest infection.
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“I wouldn’t be able to bring him around people. If he didn’t receive treatment, he wouldn’t have survived past his first birthday,” said his mother, Vanessa Cruz.
But Wesley's doctors knew they could save him. He underwent stem cell and bone marrow therapy, a process that required blood products such as plasma and platelets but ultimately restored his immunity.
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That’s where Kazhuhiro Ando stepped in.
Ando is a regular blood donor at the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center in Los Angeles. He has donated blood 236 times over the years.
Ando’s constant donations were vital to the success of Wesley’s stem cell and bone therapy after the boy’s family was eliminated as a match.
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On Wednesday morning, Ando and Wesley finally met at the blood and platelet center, where Ando smiled from ear to ear as he and Wesley posed for photos in front of a clapping audience.
“When you see that little boy’s face. Oh, that makes me so happy because, oh, my blood is doing something,” Ando said.
