Two and a half years ago, Mary DeWitt Hesson went to a bone marrow drive at St. Joseph Church in Lake Orion.
This summer, she will be attending a Peter, Paul and Mary concert in Chicago.
What happened in between the two seemingly unrelated events changed the outlook on life for three deserving people.
Trevor Maizland was just four years old when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in June of 2003.
‘He was diagnosed with ALL, and was on a two-year protocol,? recalled mother Jennifer Maizland. ‘Shortly into his protocol, he relapsed.
Trevor needed a transplant to survive, and a group of his friends and family looked into adding to the donor list registry.
In all, they did seven drives, and added over 1,400 names to the list, with the costs being paid by fundraising.
One drive the Maizlands did was at St. Joe’s, with Trevor’s aunt Beth Hargraves, a Lake Orion resident.
Hargraves? friend, DeWitt Hesson, was one of around 600 people that the drive added to the registry in November of 2003.
‘Father Mike (Verschaeve) let (Trevor’s) family have a bone marrow drive (at St. Joe’s), and I registered,? DeWitt Hesson said.
She registered even though she was unlikely to be of any help to Trevor.
‘It’s very unlikely to find a match from your own drive,? Jennifer said. ‘But so many people wanted to help.?
Trevor’s transplant happened a month later, from a donor not registered by the Maizland’s drives.
But DeWitt Hesson stayed on a list of potential donors. In March of last year, she received a phone call regarding a possible match.
‘They told me that she was a female, 68-years-old, and very ill,? DeWitt Hesson said.
She went to Harper Hospital in Detroit for a physical and tests, and shortly after found out she was a match on nine points out of ten.
The old way of doing the transplant required drilling into the hip bone of the donor, but the new way, used by DeWitt Hesson, is much less invasive.
DeWitt Hesson took injections to help her bone marrow produce more stem cells than needed, which then flow into the blood.
After a week of injections, DeWitt Hesson said the immature stem cells in her blood were harvested in a way that is similar to giving blood.
‘The whole process is just amazing. It’s a medical miracle that they can take something from one person and help another.,? she said.
One year after the transplant, the two sides involved can decide if they want to release their information to the other person.
On the one-year anniversary of the transplant, this past April, DeWitt Hesson’s husband got a phone call.
‘She said, ‘do you remember the song ‘Puff the Magic Dragon??? DeWitt Hesson said. ‘Well, I’m Mary (Travers) from Peter, Paul and Mary.?
Indeed, Travers, a Connecticut resident who has won a handful of Grammy Awards with Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow, was the recipient of DeWitt Hesson’s gift.
‘It’s impossible to gage or weigh the amount of gratitude I feel,? Travers said.
The folk singer had been waiting for a match after chemotherapy failed to stop her Leukemia.
Travers has began performing again, but said that it will take up to two years to build up her immune system again.
This summer she will travel to Chicago for a performance, which will mark the first time she’s flown since the transplant.
Travers said the Hessons are planning on attending that concert.
‘We now are certainly sisters under the skin,? Travers said of her new relationship with DeWitt Hesson. ‘I look very forward to meeting her and her family.?
In the meantime, DeWitt Hesson will continue her work in the AAA office in Lake Orion, and will look after her two daughters (Travers also has two daughters).
Trevor Maizland just turned seven and is doing well.
‘This year he’ll be three years removed from his transplant,? his mother noted.
And Travers said she’ll continue to enjoy life, sitting outside under an umbrella, as opposed to in a hospital room.
‘People assume that it’s a much more strenuous process than it is now,? she said of the donation process.
‘Because it’s not a really invasive process, I’d love to encourage more people to get on the donor bank list,? Travers added, citing a specific need for African American, Hispanic and Asian donors.
‘It’s such an important gift,? she said.
For more information on getting added to the bone marrow donor registry, call 1-800-Marrow-2, or visit themarrowfoundation.org,or marrow.org