Bride shares dance with man who saved her life
SARTELL, Minn. (KTVU) - A bride from Minnesota shared a dance at her wedding with the man who saved her life.
Greta Hokanson of Sartell Minnesota was married on October 10th. She and her husband Tony were married in her hometown church and then the reception was held in St. Cloud.
There was a special guest at Perske’s wedding who means the world to her.
When Greta was 15 years old she was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, which is rare for a teenager.
“We were told at my young age there was a great chance that I would become resistant to the medication and the best chance for survival was a bone marrow transplant sooner than later. I also had many negative side effects from the oral chemo. The only cure was a bone marrow transplant,” said Hokanson.
Although siblings have a 25 percent chance of being a match, her two sisters were not.
The national registry was searched and a donor was found from Arkansas. Perske was only told that he was a 44-year-old man.
Hokanson was told if both parties agreed, then their contact information could be shared one year after the transplant.
Perske says they both agreed immediately and she wrote Danny Daniels a letter telling him who she was and how grateful and blessed she was for his amazing gift of life.
The pair arranged to meet for the first time in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. “There I met the amazing man who saved my life,” she said.
Hokanson tells KTVU she couldn’t imagine her wedding without Daniels. “He literally saved my life and has been a part of it ever since he donated his bone marrow on March 14, 2007. I thank God for him every day.”
She says doing the dance with him meant the world to her. The pair danced to 'Angels Among Us' by Alabama.
“It was one way I could show him how grateful I am for his gift of life and how much he means to me. I wanted to honor him. He is a real life hero - donating his bone marrow was a completely selfless act and he did it for me, a stranger.”
Hokanson is sharing her story to spread awareness for the need of bone marrow donors. She says joining the registry is so easy and so needed. “If you could save a life, why wouldn't you? I hope this story inspires people to join Be The Match bone marrow registry!”
Learn more about joining the Be The Match bone marrow registry here.