A Hero in the Family: The Gift of Life

My three sons all work in the medical field—two doctors and a pharmacist—dedicating their lives to others. Last year, the "gift of life" became personal. One of my sons, a physician, was identified as a perfect bone marrow match for a five-year-old girl battling leukemia. The process was grueling. His brother flew with him to New York City to support him through the procedure, which took an entire day to filter his stem cells into a single, precious bag. Having fasted for the surgery, he was physically exhausted and weak, but the mission was accomplished. When he returned home, his wife and baby daughter were at the airport to welcome their "hero dad." The rewards came in stages: Six Months Later: A redacted letter arrived reporting she was making incredible progress. One Year Later: News arrived that she was finally healthy enough to attend school. Knowing she is recovering is the greatest gift our family could receive. A Surprising Connection By the end of last year, the girl’s parents requested a video chat. During the call, we discovered a striking similarity: like my son, the little girl is of mixed Vietnamese and European descent. Even with two older siblings of her own, my son was her biological "twin." His genetic makeup—carrying my X-chromosome from Eastern and Southern Asia and a Y-chromosome from Europe—made him the perfect match she couldn't find anywhere else. Roots and Royalty Our family’s DNA has provided other fascinations recently. A match on my father’s Y-chromosome suggested a distant connection to several European Royal houses, including the Romanovs, and the royal lineages of Greece, Denmark, Norway, Austria, and Sweden. While my father’s roots are in Henan（河南)—a province famous for the Kaifeng(开封)Jews—the DNA confirmed he is not related to that specific community. It is incredible to realize the history hidden in our blood; I never imagined we would have even a microscopic link to the tragic(灭门)and storied history of the Romanovs. My father’s only lingering sorrow is that my brother has not yet married or had children; he worries their specific branch of the family name might end. However, I see it differently. Through my son’s donation, our family’s "life force" is now flowing through a little girl who is healthy, happy, and writing a brand-new history of her own.