My Sister's Keeper

A gripping novel/movie about one person saving the life of another person

I read My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, before joining DKMS. In my opinion, the book captures everything so beautifully and in such heart-breaking detail that I already had a picture in my mind. This gripping novel about a young girl, Anna, who ultimately sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when it is discovered that her older sister, Kate, is in need of a kidney transplant in order to save her life.

The Fitzgerald family’s life is altered when their daughter Kate gets diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia at the young age of two. The family decides to have another child who, it turns out, is a genetic match for Kate. When Anna was born, her cord blood was donated to her sister, but when the leukemia returned, she then had to donate bone marrow. Although Kate is older, she relies heavily on her sister – in fact, her life depends on Anna.

This touching novel has been turned into a movie starring, Cameron Diaz. ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ reveals truths about challenges families face and decisions they have to be make, testing their love, loyalty and strength as a family.
The premise really does go hand in had with the notion that we are all in other's lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime; that at some point, we might need to depend on each other.

This story is close to the life-saving work of DKMS; registering bone marrow donors so that patients (like Kate) in need of a bone marrow transplant can find their life-saving donor match. Currently, about 30% of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant will find a match within their family; the other 70% depend on an unrelated donor; a stranger like me and you. That is why there is a great need for people to consider registering as bone marrow donors. One person canliterally save the life of another. What greater reward is there than saving a life.

My Sister’s Keeper is in theaters on Friday, June 26th.