JEFFERSONVILLE -- After registering at a DKMS bone marrow drive, which was intended to help a local school counselor find a donor match, Tyler Wagner of Jeffersonville was surprised when he received a letter stating that they found someone he could donate to. In January 2009, Wagner donated his bone marrow, which soon changed both the lives of him and his recipient.

Wagner immediately started the process which included testing and blood work. Although he was nervous at first for the procedure, he was able to call people who previously donated. During the process, Wagner's family, friends, and teachers were all supportive when it came to accommodations that had to be made—such as going to Westchester and the postoperative care. All expenses were covered by DKMS.

Finally, around one year after Wagner's donation, he received an email with the contact information of his bone marrow recipient, Christian Tyler Wilson, who was diagnosed with Gamma Delta T-cell Lymphoma/Leukemia.

“I was nervous to call, for sure. I wasn't sure what to say,” Wagner said. When Wilson received Wagner's phone call, he thought his friends were playing a prank, until Wagner started giving detailed information about the donation. Immediately, they started texting back and forth the whole night. “You wait for a year, so I was excited that he actually signed off that I could meet him,” Wagner added.

Wagner and his parents, Janet and Floyd, all flew to Tennessee to meet Wilson and his family in 2010 at his high school graduation. Hugs and tears were recorded by Wilson's mother when him and Wagner finally met, and he describes meeting his recipient as if they were “blood brothers.”

“I was really honored when I met him,” Wagner said. He points out how happy Wilson is, and how his personality is strikingly positive, adding that, “The way he presents himself is very humble.”

Wagner also went on to serve as one of the best men in Wilson's wedding, and as recently in 2019, Wagner, his girlfriend, and his daughter flew to Tennessee to celebrate Wilson's tenth anniversary of being cancer free.

“In a nutshell we're blood brothers,” Wilson said. “I mean that in the literal sense. My fingerprints are the same but if you cut me and I bleed, I bleed Tyler Wagner's DNA. We formed a bond that cannot be broken.”

“It's one of the greatest feelings ever to be able to do something like that for somebody,” Wagner said. All it took was a few hours from Wagner to get the procedure done, and a couple weeks for recovery. “It was really nothing compared to what he gets; another chance to live,” Wagner added.

On August 3, Wagner will be holding his first DKMS Bone Marrow Drive at The Barn On Hubbard from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be food, drinks, and raffles, as well as a cornhole tournament where people can register for $40 per team. He asks that teams arrive an hour early for registration. DKMS is also providing all of the materials for Wagner that can help people get on the registry to become donors, and all proceeds are going towards the organization.

Wagner's goal for the drive is to spread awareness about becoming bone marrow donors and what it can do for others like Wilson. “When I saw the way he is, like the way he presents himself and the way he goes about his life, it just inspires me,” Wagner stated.

Wilson plans to make the trip to Sullivan County for the drive.

“The selfless sacrifice Tyler made resulted in me being alive,” Wilson said. “The more people who know and can get on the registry is a chance for people like me to survive.”