Stranger Saves IL Veteran

Photo: Michael Tercha/Tribune

A Vietnam veteran from LaSalle just met the stranger who saved his life.

59-year-old  Thomas Yepsen got the chance to thank Tricia McElhone in person on Sunday for giving him her bone marrow. 

Yepsen got the transplant in 2009, after nearly 2 years of suffering with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. There were only 2 people (out of 9 million people on the donor registry!) who were potential donor matches for Yepsen. 

McElhone joined the registry years earlier when a neighbor was diagnosed with leukemia.  When the Florida woman found out much later that she was a match for a stranger miles away, she stepped up and decided to donate her bone marrow to the man.  Her compassion and selflessness saved his life! 

Check out a full story about the meeting in the Chicago Tribune: LaSalle man meets stranger whose bone marrow saved his life