Lael McGrath couldn't shake the flu in the summer of 2016 and thought she might have Lyme disease so she sought out a specialist.
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The newly retired 2nd-grade teacher and grandmother of six was shocked to learn she actually had acute myeloid leukemia.
When doctors at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital determined she was a candidate for a stem cell transplant, a search began for a donor.
McGrath, now 67, was matched with 21-year-old Wiebka Rudolph of Germany. Rudolph placed herself on a donor registry at the age of 18.
"And we were able to find a young woman, a young woman who has given us hope has given us life and has given her a new chance as life," Dr. Vimal Patel said.
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The two never thought they would one day meet face to face.
"When I saw her I couldn't squeeze her hard enough," McGrath said.
As part of a special trip to the United States, Rudolph is staying with McGrath this week and they visited various members of McGrath's care team during a special reception on Friday.
The strangers who live an ocean apart are now family forever.
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