What better time than Valentine’s Day to show love for a special person in your life. One little boy got a chance to do just that for his big brother by giving him the gift of life on what is also National Donor Day.
Preston and Cameron Pipkins bring special meaning to the expression “brotherly love.” From the beginning, they’ve been inseparable. Their bond is now strengthened by a life-saving medical procedure.
On Valentine’s Day and National Donor Day Preston, 13, received his little brother’s stem cells. It was a necessary transplant needed to treat Preston’s acute myeloid leukemia.
“I told him he was a superhero because he gave me the bone marrow that I needed,” said Preston Pipkins.
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The journey to get here has been long and exhausting at times, starting with motherly instinct. Preston had been tired and losing his appetite. Then one day, after being taken out of a youth basketball game, he went to the park with his family.
“It was really hot outside and when I touched him and held onto him, he was really cold,” said his mother, Rachael Pipkins.
Not wanting to wait several days for answers, they bypassed a regular doctor’s appointment. Instead, they headed straight for the ER. That September, Cameron's cancer diagnosis changed everything.
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Rachael Pipkins said the diagnosis was life-altering and devastating.
Preston would need a bone marrow transplant to survive, so the search for a donor began. The doctors and specialists at Children’s Medical Center Dallas tapped the national registry and tested his little brother Cameron. Only Cameron came back as a match.
“We found out on the same day that he was a match, they told us there were no viable matches in the registry for Preston,” Pipkins said.
It was all up to little Cameron, and he was up to the task. After seeing his brother in the hospital for more than 100 days, he gladly offered up his stem cells.
“I felt very grateful and joyful,” said Cameron.
Mom and dad said they’re proud of both their boys, banding together to beat cancer. Preston’s only remaining wish is simple.
“I’m excited to go home,” he said.
According to Be The Match, the likelihood of finding a bone marrow match ranges from 29-79% depending on a patient’s ethnic background.
ONLINE: Click here for more information on National Donor Day.
In August, NBC 5's Candace Sweat became a bone marrow donor for her father, who is recovering from leukemia.
