On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at a private Cocktails and Conversation event in Nantucket, Mass., two people who are deeply connected – but have never met – were introduced for the first time. The event was hosted by Drs. Stephen and Helen Colen, longtime supporters of Gift of Life. Dr. Stephen Colen is himself a transplant survivor, as well as a member of Gift of Life’s Board of Directors. 

The Colens, in partnership with Gift of Life, held the event to raise funds needed to add more donors to the registry, and to share the introduction of a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donor and his recipient. 

During the introduction ceremony, Dr. Colen welcomed the transplant recipient, 60-year-old Debra Casper to join him as he helped tell her story. While healthy and active today, two years ago in July 2020, the real estate paralegal, wife and mother of two from the town of Whitman, Mass., was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia after suffering from headaches and extreme pain in her jaw. Her doctors recommended a PBSC transplant from a matching donor as her best chance of a cure. 

Her family members were not close enough matches to donate to her and were surprised to learn that it was possible a total stranger could be a closer match. Only about 30% of transplant patients can find a match within their family; the other 70% rely on registries around the world, like Gift of Life, to find a compatible donor. 

Fortunately for Debra, Gift of Life found three matches for her, and with one of them selected as her closest match, she was able to receive a lifesaving donation of stem cells from him in October 2020, and then a booster of white blood cells from her donor in May 2021 to help in her recovery. 

That donor, 22-year-old Ian Linder Sheldon, joined Gift of Life while serving as staff at Camp Coleman in Georgia, where he has attended each year since he was 11 years old, including serving as a camp counselor this summer. Ian is also a computer engineering major at Florida International University. 

While giving his background, Dr. Colen mentioned that Ian had told Gift of Life that he swabbed to join the registry because they were giving doughnuts out at the registration table. That sweet treat resulted in a life saved and Ian joined the stage and met Debra. The two hugged warmly. 

“Thank you for giving me back my life,” said Debra. “I feel great, I feel wonderful. I’m not only cancer-free, but I also no longer have several other conditions, as well.” 

“The part about doughnuts was a joke,” said Ian. “I hope what came across is that I’m not someone special. I believe that anyone given this opportunity would do the same thing. Donating was so easy, I live in Miami and the donation center is nearby in Boca Raton, at the Gift of Life headquarters. I would do it again.” 

Ian, who has also helped run recruitment drives at Camp Coleman, is extremely modest about saving someone’s life, saying that he is not a hero, just a person who did what anyone else would do. 

“Ian, I can promise you that when you look back on this, it will be one of the greatest things you have done in your life,” said Dr. Colen. 

If you would like to host a Cocktails and Conversation fundraising event, please contact Director of Development Robyn Malek, rmalek@giftoflife.org.