Flower power

John Heron, a 14-year veteran of B.C. Transit, helps launch Daffodil Month, an annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. Johns twin brother, Gerald, was diagnosed with cancer, and John donated his stem cells for a transplant. Gerald is now cancer free.

image credit: Don Denton/News staff

Gerald Heron left cancer treatment feeling alive again, and a little guilty, says his twin John Heron.

Gerald was diagnosed in Toronto with terminal non-Hodgkins Mantle cell lymphoma which had no conventional cure. He underwent seven months of chemotherapy, full body radiation, a stem cell transplant and 18 months of isolation.

You get to meet a lot of other cancer patients waiting for their stem cell transplant that may never happen because they dont have a donor, John says. It would mean the world to so many people.

John, who lives in Saanich and drives for BC Transit, was integral in saving his identical siblings life.

He was fortunate enough to have most, if not all, of his cancer cells eradicated which would allow him to get my stem cells a rebirth so to speak, says John. There (are) so many people not getting matches or donors and they remain in jeopardy.

For John, donating meant three hours connected intravenously to a machine that separated the stem cells.

The experience educated me on how easy it is to register and donate stem cells and how beneficial it is to the recipient, he says. Hes become cancer free. It goes to show for those who are inclined, getting on a bone marrow registry, and being able to donate stem cells is a very easy process.

The B.C. Transit bus driver became a face of the campaign as the company and its employees, with the Canadian Cancer Society, launched the 2014 Daffodil Month campaign in Greater Victoria last week.

Originally posted here:
Flower power