By Andrew Adler
Community Editor
Eric Gurevich, pictured here in 2015, donated bone marrow stem cells that would later save the life of a man he’d never met — Ron Dreben.
If you’re age 18-35 and wonder why you should head over to the Trager Family JCC this coming January 21 or 28 to run a cotton swab along the insides of your cheeks, consider the example of Eric Gurevich.
Not quite 11 years ago, Gurevich boarded a plane from Louisville to Washington, D.C. for the express purpose of saving the life of a man he’d never met.
That man was Ron Dreben, a 53-year-old D.C. resident suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer in which bone marrow cells fail to mature and which sometimes develops into full-blown leukemia. He was deteriorating rapidly and needed a bone marrow stem cell transplant if he was to survive.
Seven years earlier, Gurevich was on a Birthright Israel trip when his group heard a presentation by Gift of Life, prompted by a scarcity of Jewish bone marrow donors. Quickly he volunteered to have his cheeks swabbed — after all, the procedure took only a few seconds — and once his tissue sample was entered into a donor registry, someday he might match with a potential recipient.
At the time of his donation on March 9, 2015, Gurevich knew nothing about his recipient other than the broadest parameters.
“I knew that it was a gentleman. I knew his age and I knew the condition he had,” Gurevich, Director of Community Relations at Parks Alliance of Louisville, said during a recent Zoom interview. “I really didn’t know any details.”
It took a series of letters — sent through a Gift of Life clearinghouse — for each man to learn the other’s identity. The program “has grown by leaps and bounds,” Gurevich said, “and part of that has been connecting their donors with their recipients. They’ve done it hundreds, if not thousands of times by now.”
Then, about 18 months after his donation, Gurevich traveled to Miami to attend a Gift of Life event — the long-sought opportunity for he and Dreben to meet in person.
L-R: Eric Gurevich meets Ron Dreben, recipient of Gurevich’s donation of bone marrow stem cells.
“It was like meeting a long-lost family member,” Gurevich said, recalling how he was filled with “anticipation and excitement, and also a bit of the unknown. It was easily one of the top moments of my life in terms of how surreal and transformative it felt.”
Was his act of donating his stem cells fulfilling a mitzvah?
“Candidly, growing up Jewish, I’m sure I saw it through that lens.” he said. “But it was the totally human thing to do. If you see someone in need, you’re going to try to help them. And this was a very direct way you could help someone in a profound way.”
The Trager Family JCC will host a swab event on two consecutive Wednesdays: Jan. 21 from 4-8 p.m., and Jan. 28 from 7-11 a.m. Participants should be age 18-35. Tissue samples collected from the swab will be entered into a bone marrow registry that may match them with a potential recipient.
Also, Congregation Adath Jeshurun is seeking a potential match for a congregant in need of a kidney donation. An information box in the synagogue’s current newsletter reads as follows:
“We recently learned that a member of our AJ family is in urgent need of a kidney transplant. As our community has always done, we want to rally together, spread the word, and help connect them with potential donors.
If you or someone you know has ever considered becoming a living kidney donor, this could be a life-changing gift. We are still gathering information, but the National Kidney Registry offers an excellent starting point for learning more about the process: kidneyregistry.com”
The synagogue notice continues: “As we learn more details about how our congregation can best support this effort, we will share updates. In the meantime, please keep this individual and their family in your thoughts.
If you believe you may be able to help or would like to learn more, please reach out to Rabbi Scott Hoffman or Adath Jeshurun’s Executive Director.”