Travis Airman Shares Gift Of Life Through Bone Marrow Donation

FAIRFIELD (CBS13) — A Travis Air Force airman is going beyond the call of duty and helping save a life of a woman he's never met.

Lt. Col. Shane Wehunt is the commander of the 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air force Base, with 30 years in the military.

Four years ago, Wehunt was inspired to sign up to be a donor with the National Marrow Donor program after his mother died of cancer.

"Having the opportunity to be a part of the solution to prevent someone from being in that situation that I watched her go through, was really the driving factor," said Wehunt.

That opportunity came sooner than he expected.

"I received this letter that says 'Dear Mr. Shane Wehunt, you've been matched with a patient in need of a marrow transplant,'" he said.

All he knows is the recipient is a 52-year old-woman with pre-Leukemia. And while saving lives is part of his duty he says, this one is personal.

"This one is me and one other person and it's a direct contact that I have. It's not a nation, it's not a community, it's an individual person and that individual person just happens to be aligned with my mothers demographic," he said.

The process Wehunt says turned out to be easier than he and his family first thought.

"There was no pain," he said. "There was just some achy feelings."

Wehunt checked in to a cancer center in Berkeley to undergo a number of tests to get him prepped.

"Donors for stem cell transplantation will first get injections underneath their skins, daily for four days after which their blood stem cells which are amplified by the injections will be collected through a special localized process." said Dr. Michael Carroll, Bone Marrow Transplant Director at Sutter Medical in Sacramento.

Dr. Carroll says what Colonel Wehunt has done is life changing.

"A substantial portion of them up up to 50% will be cured through this process," he said.

Wehunt's family is beyond proud.

"I'm just so proud of him, he's always doing doing wonderful things and this is huge," said Wehunt's wife Teejae.

Now Lt Colonel Wehunt is hoping by sharing his story, he can inspire others to sign up

"There are hundreds of thousands of matches walking around, and they just don't know it, and they need to be on the registry," he said.

Right now the donor is anonymous, but in one year both parties will be asked if they want to meet. And Wehunt is hoping for that opportunity.

"I hope I can give her a hug for both me and my mom."