From Perfect Match to Gift of Life--and, at Last, to a Meeting

They forged a deep friendship with blood and bone, after doctors declared them a perfect match.

But they never met until a handful of national corporations arranged a brief visit in an unlikely venue.

Paul Wood, a 45-year-old database administrator from Orange, gave his bone marrow last year to the Minneapolis-based National Marrow Donor Program, thinking he’d probably never know the sick person he was helping.

Joshua Zitscher, a 5-year-old boy from Cincinnati, received the marrow on Feb. 6, 1995, in an operation that probably saved his life.

Curiosity--and a chance to publicize the desperate need for more marrow donors--brought the two together Saturday during the Southern California Home & Garden Show at the Anaheim Convention Center, with scores of teary-eyed strangers and bewildered bargain-hunters looking on.

“We’ve looked so forward to the day we could meet the man who saved our son’s life,” said Angie Zitscher, Joshua’s mother, moments after bear-hugging Wood on something called the Health & Home Lifestyle Stage.

“For me, this has been a blessing,” Wood said, proudly wearing the Cincinnati Reds cap presented to him by the Zitschers. “I’m so glad God used me in such a mighty way.”

No one seemed clear about the connection between a garden show and life-saving transplants, except that garden show organizers wanted to do a good turn for a good cause.

Also, nearly a dozen companies donated air fare, rental cars, hotel rooms and other items to the event, which was emceed by Anissa Ayala-Espinosa, 24, one of the nation’s most famous marrow recipients.

As a 19-year-old leukemia patient, Ayala-Espinosa captured worldwide attention by receiving marrow from her 14-month-old sister, a child conceived specifically to save Anissa’s life.

“If we recruit one donor,” said Ayala-Espinosa, cancer-free for five years and a spokeswoman for the National Marrow Donor Program, “that’s all it takes.”

After urging everyone to contemplate becoming a donor, Ayala-Espinosa then brought the Zitscher family onstage.

Joshua, who suffers not from leukemia but a rare genetic defect, had pestered his parents repeatedly during the trip from Cincinnati, more anxious to meet Wood than most children are to meet Santa Claus.

But with TV cameras and photographers recording every moment, Joshua grew shy.

“What do you want to say to Ron?” Bill Zitscher asked his son.

“Nothing,” the boy whispered, turning his face into his father’s chest.

“He didn’t even want to wait an hour to meet you,” Angie Zitscher told Wood. “Now he’s shy.”

Still, Joshua’s silence didn’t matter, because Wood and the Zitschers had plenty to talk about, and the unspoken thank yous hung in the air.

“We prayed for you every Wednesday night in my Bible study group,” Wood told the family, with whom he’s spoken several times on the phone.

“This is the card you sent us when Josh was very sick,” Angie told Wood, holding up a fancily framed greeting card with words of inspiration written in gold ink.

Normally, identities of marrow donors and their recipients are closely guarded secrets. But when both parties express an interest in meeting, as in the case of Wood and the Zitschers, the National Marrow Donor Program will sometimes arrange a very public meeting to highlight the potential for happy endings.

“Today we have an opportunity to see all aspects of our program,” Ayala-Espinosa said.

The National Marrow Donor Program was created in 1986 to provide marrow transplants from volunteers who are not related to their donors.

The program keeps a roster of nearly 2.36 million volunteer donors, with an average of 2,000 searches being conducted at any given time.