Bone marrow donor and recipient meet for first time on Long Island

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
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DEER PARK, Long Island -- There was a touching moment Tuesday night between a police officer and the woman who saved his life.

Gregory Holgerson is a police officer in Deer Park.

Back in 2012, he was diagnosed with a form of leukemia and in dire need of a bone marrow transplant.

It turns out a donor named Susan Hampton in Northampton, England was his perfect match.

He flew her in Tuesday night so he could personally thank her.

"If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here right now. At the time when I got diagnosed, I had a two-week-old son and now I have a 3-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter, and that's all extra time that I got because of her," Holgerson said.

Susan has a very personal reason for joining the bone marrow registry.

Her husband lost his mother to leukemia.

She encourages everyone to sign up to become a donor.