From One Survivor to Another

Brianna had an exciting day yesterday! Yul Kwon the $1 million winner of last season's TV hit show Survivor visited us. He is such a humble, warm and generous man. We are avid Survivor fans and have watched most of the seasons of the show. Brianna asked questions about what it was like, and Yul sat and chatted with us for close to an hour. We told him that we had rooted for him during the show and that he was such a great player. He brought Brianna two t-shirts, a hat for Trevor and a signed picture. He wrote:

Brianna, It was so awesome to meet you - you really touched me with your spirit and energy. I'm glad to have you as my friend. All the best to you and I will see you soon! - Yul Kwon

Wow! What a great guy! Thanks to my hubby, who made it all happen too! He met him through his work and they got to talking about bone marrow donation and ultimately about Brianna's condition. You see, Yul is using some of his fame to bring greater awareness of the bone marrow donor registry, especially among people of ethnic descent. My husband learned that Yul had a friend in college who passed away and needed a bone marrow transplant. At the time, Yul told us that he wanted to do something then to get more donors registered. But it was not meant to be until some years later. Now, he has donated some of his winning, a little of his fame and much of his time to the cause. We are so appreciative of his visit. He also met several other patients on the floor, and the unit was abuzz with talk of the Survivor winner.

The excitement spilled into this morning too. We showed pictures to all the doctors and residents during their morning rounds. What a generous man and a great way for a teenager to spend some of her time in the hospital.

Thank you Yul! And, thank you my dear husband.