After being diagnosed with a highrisk form of acute myeloid leukemia, doctors at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey quickly realized that Toms River resident Lael McGrath would need a stem cell transplant. Since none of Lael's family members were a match, she was registered with Be The Match. Through that National Marrow Donor Program, her ideal match was located in Germany half a world away.

Nearly three years posttransplant, Lael was finally able to thank her donor facetoface during a heartwarming ceremony at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where the transplant took place.