Normally, passengers reserve their cheers for the moment the plane touches down, but on a United trip on Saturday, they started clapping before the jet had even taken off.
The reason for this is that just before takeoff, United pilot Captain David Whitson boarded Flight 2223 from Houston to Newark to welcome a brave passenger who also happened to be his bone marrow donor.
Whitson is seen hugging passenger Alexandria Reimold, whom he later identifies as his bone marrow donor, as he moves around the cabin in a video captured by another traveler.
To “say ‘hello'” before Reimold’s flight took off and “share their remarkable story with other travelers over the plane’s PA system,” he rushed to her gate after operating a different flight that touched down in Houston, according to a United Airlines representative.
Whitson complimented the other passengers as they embraced, calling Reimold a “true hero.”
He went on to say that Reimold had been a better fit than his own brother, who was 22 when she made her gift eight years earlier.
Whitson remarked, “This is the young lady that saved my life,” while the passengers sat around the couple applauded the touching reunion.
According to a United Airlines representative, Reimold registered as a bone marrow donor while attending Purdue University at the age of 18, but she didn’t provide until four years later. When they matched, she and Whitson were both registered with NMDP.
Whitson received a bone marrow transplant in 2016 as a result of Reimold’s contribution. In 2018, he resumed flying for United Airlines, according to the airline.
The pilot’s hospital, Baylor Medical Center Dallas, arranged for Whitson and Reimold to meet in person in 2018, according to United Airlines.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the soft, spongy liquid tissue called bone marrow, which is found in the middle of some bones, produces more than 200 billion new blood cells every day. A bone marrow transplant or other stem cell transplant may be able to cure the bone marrow illness that around 18,000 people discover they have each year.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, roughly 30% of transplant recipients find a matching donor within their immediate family, while the remaining 70% must look for a matching donor outside of their immediate family. Bone marrow can be donated by anyone, however all donors need to fulfill specific health standards.
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