Newark Woman Finds Her Match — Twice

By Bay City News

A Newark native getting married on Saturday met her match in 2006. But 16 years earlier, Donna Megino found the match that would save her life.

San Jose resident Sanjay Yadav will watch Megino walk down the aisle because his bone marrow donation saved Megino's life after she was diagnosed with cancer at 9 years old.

Megino's parents were concerned when she started to lose weight, her appetite decreased and non-accidental bruises started to appear on her body.

After rigorous tests and an exhausting physical, the doctors told Megino and her parents she had chronic myelogenous leukemia, which was rare in children at the time.

"I looked at my parents' faces — [they] were covered with tears, and my mom was having the hardest time looking at me," Megino said. "I was more scared for my parents than I was about cancer."

Her doctor told them she would need a bone marrow transplant.

"Whatever it was I had, it needed to be fixed. I needed my parents to be happy again," she said.

Megino's parents reached out to their family because the best chance at finding a donor match would be through a relative, she said. They even sent test tubes to the Philippines for testing, but their efforts were fruitless.

Because bone marrow matches are significantly more common in people with the same ethnicity, Megino, who is Filipina, was advised to register with the Asian American Donor Program to increase her chances of a match.

It was one of the registration drives hosted by that Alameda-based nonprofit that influenced Yadav to donate.

"I was walking by the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco with a friend when I saw the registration signs," Yadav said.

After enlisting, he said he received a phone call within a week telling him he was a match.

"That was pretty fast and shocking," he said.

Megino remembers when she first learned the news.

It was the day after my first communion and Father's Day," she said. "I didn't know what was going to happen now, but I was happy I wasn't going to be 'sick' anymore!"

The bone marrow transplant was extraordinary because it only took a matter of months, and because Yadav, who is Indian, was not a likely match.

The two exchanged letters through the Asian American Donor Program anonymously following the transplant, but a few years later, Yadav said, he received an invitation to Megino's  birthday party.

"I was filled with several emotions of happiness and appreciation, the guy saved my life — he allowed me to live and let me live," Megino said.

The two stayed in touch with phone calls, but lost contact over the years. They were reunited again when Megino began working at the Asian American Donor Program and they have remained in contact since.

"She constantly sends me emails," Yadav said. "My wife said 'That's your oldest daughter.'"

Like a proud parent, Yadav will see Megino marry Leandro "Leo" de Guzman Dizon in Clayton this weekend.

"I can't imagine not having him and his family at my wedding," Megino said. "His act of selflessness is [the] reason why I will be walking down the aisle this Saturday."

Yadav is also excited for the next chapter; Megino asked him to be a godparent to her future children.

His wife and three children have registered to donate bone marrow, and Yadav said he would not hesitate to donate again.

"God's giving you a chance to save some lives," he said.

He said that a needle poked into his hip bone is nothing compared to the agony donor recipients go through during chemotherapy.

"You should not hesitate saving somebody's life," he said.

Editor's note: Donna Megino is a cousin of Newark Patch Editor Nika Megino. Nika did not contribute to this article but did take advantage of the family connection to add a photo to those supplied by Bay City News Service.