Jay's Story - the Gift of Life

Thirteen years ago, Shula Endrey-Walder received a call from a young man in the USA saying that he has been diagnosed with Leukemia and is in need of a miracle bone marrow transplant to save his life. When no match had been found he and his supportive parents raised funds for testing and travelled around the USA to test over 59,000 potential donors. Many successful matches were found as a result of his searches, but not for him!  As they were packing up to finish the drive at the Yeshiva University in Milwaukee, a very young girl volunteered to be a donor. She was indeed found to be a match, and 10 years ago to the date Jay Feinberg had a Bone Marrow Transplant in Seattle. After his successful transplant he dedicated himself to continue searching for Jewish donors and established Gift of Life Registry, now an internationally respected registry credited with saving over a thousand lives!

Whist recovering from his transplant in 1995, he promised Shula that when he'll be well enough , he will travel to Australia to meet with her and with a second cousin in Melbourne whom the family discoverd when searching to find all family members to test for Jay. Indeed, in 2005 Jay and his parents visited their family in Melbourne, and colleagues of the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry. In Sydney he met up with Shula as well as with Rabbi Slavin, where together the seed for the Gift of Life Australia was planted.

Please read Jay's letter to the Gift of Life Australia.