Bone marrow recipient Jenny Nixon (centre) with her donor Lars and his wife Tanja. Photo: Supplied.
Grab the tissues – this is a rare life moment few on Earth will ever experience. Wagga local Jenny Nixon is alive thanks to a donor, and now, seven years later, they’ve finally met face-to-face.
“You may have heard me speak of Lars, my hero who saved my life,” said an emotional Jenny.
“He flew from Germany to the Canary Islands to meet me, so I had to get there.”
Jenny Nixon travelled to the Canary Islands to meet her German bone marrow donor, Lars.
They had planned to meet, but it came earlier than expected when they spotted each other in the street. The emotional moment was captured on camera.
“He doesn’t realise what he has done for me,” Jenny said.
“Meeting Lars and his beautiful wife Tanja is the icing on the cake for me,” she said.
Jenny Nixon with her donor Lars in the Canary Islands.
The meeting was a fairytale, but Jenny’s health didn’t get the memo. Days after returning to Wagga from her dream holiday, Jenny contracted double pneumonia, resulting in her being hospitalised for a week.
Recuperating at home, Jenny is still the epitome of gratitude – for her donor Lars, for the medical staff that saved her and for all blood and plasma donors who, sadly, make up just 3 per cent of the Australian population.
Jenny’s story has touched countless people locally and around the world, notably the staff at LifeBlood, formerly the Australian Red Cross. She regularly drops some of her delicious homemade cakes and cookies into the Wagga Lifeblood Centre in Berry Street, with a dose of unwavering optimism and joy for life.
“Jenny is such a great motivation for our staff who’ve seen how much she’s gone through, and how she’s received so many blood products,” said LifeBlood donor centre manager Neil Wright.
“She really shows our staff and our donors that the wonderful work that they do can really have an impact on someone’s life. She’s just an inspiration for us,” Neil said.
If you are inspired by Jenny’s story and would like to become a blood donor, or know more about it, you can contact RedCross LifeBlood.
