Robin Roberts Praises 'Superhero' Stem Cell Donors on 12-Year Anniversary of “GMA” Return

It’s been 12 years since Robin Roberts returned to the Good Morning America anchor desk following a stem cell transplant from her sister Sally-Ann — a donation that she said gave her “the gift of life.”

“Faith, family and friends have brought me to this moment,” Roberts, now 64, said when she returned to GMA on Feb. 20, 2013. During that appearance, she shared her and Sally-Ann’s medical journey, where her sister donated stem cells to help treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare blood disorder where blood cells don't form properly.

Roberts used the anniversary as a renewed call for stem cell donors. An estimated 18,000 people each year are diagnosed with a disease that may best be treated with stem cells. A large portion — about 12,000 — will need the help of a registry like the NMDP (formerly known as the National Marrow Donor Program or Be the Match) to find a donor.

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“I didn’t even know you could have a stem cell transplant — I never knew they existed,” Roberts has previously said. “I never knew you could donate your stem cells and they could potentially cure up to 70 different conditions.”

The GMA host thanked fans, sharing that since she disclosed her stem cell journey, viewers have donated more than $2 million to stem cell research, more than 37,000 people have joined the registry and 155 people were matched and donated their stem cells.

That number includes her nephew, Jeremiah Craft, whom Roberts called a "superhero" for donating his stem cells.

"What I'm doing here versus what this person is going through, it's just incomparable," he said, while hooked up to an IV.

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As NMDP explains, the donation process is similar to that for donating plasma or platelets: it’s an outpatient procedure that can take four to eight hours, during which the donor is hooked up to an IV. Although some donors experience headaches or flu-like symptoms from the process, “fewer than 1% of PBSC donors experience a serious side effect.”

As Roberts previously shared: "My doctor told me I had a year or two to live if I didn't have a successful transplant ... My other siblings were not a match. My doctors had already told me there was not anybody on the list that matched me. It came down to my sister Sally-Ann."

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