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Bone Marrow Donor, Recipient Meet At Mass General Hospital

BOSTON (CBS) -- "This is a really great moment," said Dr. Eyal Attar.

In a small room inside Mass General is a meeting almost two years in the making.

Erin Cortright said, "It's amazing what she did. Extraordinary is the word I would use."

Carrie Atkins saved Erin Cortright's life.

WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill reports.

Cortright said, "They gave us a time line that I would die in two to four months."

Cortright had Leukemia and was told there was nothing left to do; she was at hospice ready to die. And then she met Dr. Eyal Attar at Mass General Hospital.

He offered a long shot, an experimental bone marrow transplant. Atkins, a nursing student from Florida, member of the military and total stranger, was a match and agreed to help

Atkins said, "I'm so overwhelmed by it, I just didn't think about the big impact such a huge impact and that it work"

The two women never met until now, but both always wondered about the other.

Cortright said, "I always felt this wouldn't be complete until I could thank her in person for what she did for me returning me to my role as a mother as a wife."

A selfless act that is now a life long bond.

"To see where it went and her family loves her and she's the same age as my mom. I would want someone to do that for my mom," said Atkins.

Erin is doing great and doctors say may never see her Leukemia again.

Her goal is to see her son graduate on May 15. Her doctors say that will happen.

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