Teenager’s Life-Giving Legacy

Rod Carew and his family were batting against tough odds on this one. The baseball Hall of Famer’s beloved 18-year-old daughter, Michelle, succumbed to leukemia on Wednesday after fighting the disease for seven months. Her family had waged a public campaign to find an appropriate bone marrow donor, but to no avail. In the process, however, they helped to create a greater public awareness for the need for donors, especially among African Americans.

As Carew put it, “ .J.J. we can take solace in the fact that, because of [her], many lives have already been saved by the increase in marrow transplants performed in the weeks subsequent to our appeal.”

After the usually taciturn Carew, the Angels’ batting coach, went public with Michelle’s need, more than 70,000 calls came in to the marrow program, and the donor registry eventually increased to 2 million, up from 1.5 million last year.

Michelle underwent a rare procedure last month at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, the transfusion of blood cells from a donated umbilical cord. It was not enough. In her all too brief life, Michelle Carew’s courage and faith shone a bright light on a great need.