Sherry Hanley of Slatington recently met for the first time the young man from Germany who saved her life eight years ago.
Hendrik Gericks and Sherry Hanley finally met in Bethlehem in late August, nearly eight years after his donation of stem cells saved her life.
Hendrik Gericks had never met Sherry before, either. He donated stem cells through the Be The Match program (today known as NMDP) back in 2016 when she was battling leukemia. Sherry found out about Be the Match through her St. Luke’s oncologist, Yacoub Faroun, MD, who treated her until–and after–her stem cell transplant.
Sherry was a deputy sheriff for Lehigh County in 2015 when she discovered a pinkish blotch on her skin. She thought it may have been related to a MRSA outbreak at the Lehigh County Prison, where she often was responsible for transporting prisoners to the county courthouse.
After passing out at work, Sherry was rushed to St. Luke’s Allentown Campus, and after an initial round of bloodwork she was transferred to the Cancer Unit at St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus, where oncologist Dr. Faroun delivered the news that she had leukemia.
“Dr. Faroun was so personal and compassionate,” Sherry recalled of her hospitalization for 40 days while undergoing chemotherapy. “Dr. Faroun and his staff were wonderful. They did whatever was necessary. They gave me six months to live if I didn’t have a donor.”
After a donation occurs, Be The Match only allows anonymous contact through their organization for a period of time. For Sherry and Hendrick, it was two years before they were allowed to know each other’s identities and were free to contact each other.
Hendrick had originally planned to come to the U.S. to meet Sherry in 2020, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He recently finished his master’s degree and arrived in Bethlehem in late August with his new wife to meet Sherry.
“I was given six months to live and now I’m approaching nine years since my diagnosis,” Sherry said. “If it wasn’t for St. Luke’s Cancer Unit and Dr. Faroun helping me get to the level of transplant, I wouldn’t have known about the change of stem cells and Be The Match.
“This is a selfless young man who saved my life, and he’s my hero,” she added.
This community health news is brought to you in partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network.
