NYC firefighter saves Texas father of three’s life with his stem cells

NYC firefighter saves Texas father of three's life with his stem cells

Jeff Faller, pictured with his wife Winae and their three children Miah, Jonathan and Caleb, received some life-saving stem cells from FDNY Firefighter Robert Paolillo, who became a donor because a similar donor helped his Aunt Lucille when he was a child. (Handout)

Aunt Lucille would be proud.

A Texas man has another day with his three children thanks to the big heart and giving spirit of an FDNY firefighter who gave him his stem cells — all because someone made a similar life saving donation to the firefighter’s aunt Lucille decades ago.

“My main drive for doing this was my Aunt Lucille,” Firefighter Robert Paolillo, 29, told the Daily News as he prepared to meet the recipient of his stem cells, Jeff Faller, during a special FDNY ceremony at FDNY headquarters in Brooklyn on Thursday. “She died of leukemia when I was a lot younger, but I remember that someone had donated some bone marrow to her in an attempt to save her life and it was successful.”

The anonymous donation helped to extend Paolillo’s aunt’s life considerably, he remembered. His father’s sister ultimately died of a pneumonia her weakened immune system couldn’t fight.

Despite this, Paolillo remembered how a complete stranger gave his aunt a second shot at life.

“I thought it was great that someone who had no idea who she was and whose life didn’t affect hers did this out of the goodness of his heart,” he remembered. “I knew when I was old enough, I was going to sign up.”

Firefighter Robert Paolillo, 29, donated his stem cells to a stranger in Texas so he could have a new lease on life. The two men are going to meet tomorrow.

 

Firefighter Robert Paolillo, 29, donated his stem cells to a stranger in Texas so he could have a new lease on life. The two men are going to meet tomorrow. (FDNY)

 

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