A jubilant Fife mother screamed with delight after tracking down the “amazing” donor who gave her daughter the gift of life.
Marie Stark typed Juleena Masters’ name into Facebook and was over the moon when the American confirmed her stem cells were donated to little Ava three years ago..
Juleena, a social worker for military veterans in Oklahoma, has described her gift as “the most beautiful honour”.
She became Ava’s hero after a global search for a stem cell donor when the then three-year-old was diagnosed with inherited bone marrow failure.
She relied on blood and platelet transfusions to stay alive while waiting for a bone marrow transplant.
More than 80,000 people registered to try to help and the Lochgelly youngster, now six, had her transplant in November 2016.
The Anthony Nolan Trust, which helped organise the transplant, had permission to give the donor’s details to Ava’s family after two years.
Marie wrote a heartfelt letter to the then anonymous donor in November and later revealed their saviour was an American woman.
She was heartbroken however, when a package containing details of Ava’s brave battle could not be delivered to Juleena.
It was then she took to social media in another bid to track the donor down and on Tuesday, she received the reply she had been hoping for.
“I plucked up the courage to message a lady, an amazing lady in America, not knowing if she was Ava’s hero,” said Marie.
“The message I got back made me scream at work. I was shaking.”
Juleena said she had been delighted to hear from Ava’s family.
“I had the most beautiful honour of being a bone marrow donor in November 2016 for a three-year-old girl in the UK,” she said.
“I feared the worst as I never heard how she was doing until I received the most incredible message via Facebook.
“My heart is so happy to see how fantastic sweet Ava is doing and how she and her family are making the world a better place by spreading the message of donation.”
