A TCCH employee and Sebastian-native, Victoria Weinbrecht, was called to give a life-saving donation last month to an adult with blood cancer. Through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDPSM), formerly Be The Match®, Weinbrecht was able to potentially cure a patient suffering from a life-threatening disease via a blood stem cell donation.
Weinbrecht is the type of person to always jump up and extend a helping hand whenever she sees someone in need. Since childhood, with parents in the medical field, she knew a healthy and abled body was never guaranteed, so if one is fortunate enough to be healthy, it should be used to help others. So, in 2016 when NMDP came to her college marching band rehearsal to explain the program and ask people to join the registry, Weinbrecht knew it was something she had to do.
After years of waiting, Weinbrecht first received a call around 2019 about a potential match. Unfortunately, additional blood testing found she was not a complete match, but luckily a closer match was found on the registry. “I was devastated but also relieved there was a match better for the patient than me,” Weinbrecht explained.
Fortunately, she had another chance in 2024. Weinbrecht received the call again and after additional testing, found out she was the primary donor for a patient in severe need. “My first reaction was to cry – I was so happy. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to donate again and finding a match is actually a rare and really hard thing to do,” Weinbrecht recalls. Despite more than 41 million people on the registry, only 66% of patients, 50% of patients with an ethnically diverse background, have a donor that is a complete match.
“A healthy, functioning body is a blessing so if I can safely use mine to help someone else, that’s a no-brainer to me. Of course I would help,” Weinbrecht states. “I’m also so grateful to TCCH for supporting me both as my employer and as a vessel to support ‘healthcare for all’. For me, access to healthcare and the right to have a healthy life extends beyond my job – it’s a core principle I believe in.”
With the giving season approaching and November being National Marrow Awareness Month, Weinbrecht encourages anyone interested in learning more to visit www.nmdp.org.
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