When Matt Farrow was taken to Paris 29 years ago, umbilical cord blood transplants were an experimental procedure.
His parents took the then-5-year-old to France because that was the only place where they could find a doctor to perform the procedure.
Farrow, who suffered from a rare blood disorder, was the first person to receive a cord-blood transplant, and doctors said there was little chance it would work.
“When my parents got approached to do this experiment, they were given less than 5 percent chance that it would work,” Farrow said.
The transplant defied the odds, though, and the cord blood from Farrow’s newborn sister saved his life.
Fast-forward to 2017.
Farrow now works for Cord:Use Cord Blood Bank in Orlando, where technicians process and store cord blood to be used by patients all over the world.
“Cord blood’s been used for over 40,000 transplants to save people with over 80 diseases now,” Cord:Use president Dr. Edward Guindi said.
One of those people was 2-year-old Grant Gibbens, who was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant.
Cord blood from his newborn brother was used to treat Grant’s cancer and he is now in full remission, his family said.
Farrow realized Monday that he was the one who delivered the cord blood used to treat Grant.
“That’s really special,” Farrow said. “It’s really awesome that I hear that cord blood has been able to save another life.”
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