Birmingham, Alabama (World Brothers) — A McNeese State University student helped a seriously ill girl from hundreds of miles away, and the two were finally able to meet this week.
Two years ago, Sophie Cromer, a third-grader from Moody, Alabama, learned she had aplastic anemia, a disease that causes shortness of breath, nosebleeds and headaches, and the only cure is a bone marrow transplant.
Thankfully, she found a donor over 400 miles away and on Wednesday Birmingham sister station It was there when they first met.
“When Sophie was reunited with her organ donor, Macy Fuselier, everyone in the room was in tears. Sophie is now doing well in school and attending dance classes. Doctors and her parents say she is a completely different girl than when she first arrived at Children's Hospital two years ago.
“Two years ago in September, Sophie had a bruise and we took her to the pediatrician who immediately referred her here. A few weeks later, Sophie was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and was critically ill,” Cromer said. “We found out the only treatment was a bone marrow transplant. Our other biological daughter was tested to see if she was a match, but she wasn't. We were so upset – we didn't know what options we had from there.”
But thankfully, a college student from Louisiana, more than 400 miles away, came to the rescue.
“I went into a booth on my first day of college, and they did a swab test and sent it to me, and I thought, 'Just to be safe, I'll give this a go, because I'm not going to be selected for anything,'” Fusselier says. “I tried it, and then three years later I got something in the mail, and I opened it and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I forgot I was doing this. I actually matched with someone.'”
The two were matched in 2023. Fuselier graduated from McNeese University's radiological science program this year.
Matching Macy and Sophie was a prayer answered for the Cromer family. They had tried other treatments but were determined to see their child cured.
“It was difficult. We were coming here every week. There was treatment but it wasn't cured. There was a high chance it would come back and we would have to start the treatment all over again. When we found out a bone marrow transplant was an option we spoke with Dr. Haynes and he strongly recommended it,” said Adam and Candace Cromer.
To learn more about Sophie's story, here.
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