PG Man Meets Life-Saving Donor

By Michelle Cyr-Whiting

Bernhard Wimmer of Germany and John Routley of Prince George

Prince George, B.C. -  Ten years ago, John Routley was lying in Vancouver General Hospital gravely ill with leukemia...

With his wife, Stephanie, and 10-month-old daughter, Cassidy, at his bedside, Routley was not expected to live, unless a perfect bone marrow match could be found.  He had no siblings and there was little hope. 

That's where Bernhard Wimmer came into the picture.  Wimmer signed on to a bone marrow donor list in hopes of being a match for an 18-year-old girl with leukemia in his district of Germany.  While Wimmer was not a match for her, he was a 10-out-of-10 match for John Routley.

And so while Routley underwent three days of intense radiation therapy, followed by three days of chemotherapy to kill his remaining marrow, Wimmer quickly went through the blood work and pre-op preparations for donating his healthy bone marrow.  Following his surgery in Germany, the marrow was flown directly to Vancouver and rushed to VGH for transplant.

For Routley, 100-days of isolation followed, as he had no immunity and had to wait for the marrow to take hold and regenerate.  Wimmer was able to leave for a planned vacation two days after his surgery and was back running shortly thereafter. 

And that is where the story might end, but, in this case, it does not...

Two years later, John Routley was permitted to know the name of his donor and the Routley and Wimmer families struck up a friendship that has consisted of internet chats for the past eight years.  Last week, the Wimmers arrived in Vancouver and hopped in a motorhome to drive to Prince George and meet their friends, face-to-face. 

Speaking through an interpreter, Bernhard Wimmer says he was so nervous that he almost missed the exit out of Vancouver.  (This comment brings laughter from his wife and daughters)  He says, while he's known John, long-distance, for eight years, "it's been really, really special to shake his hand and hug him."

For his part, Routley says he's been thinking about the gift Bernhard gave him every night the family has been visiting.  "It's almost surreal to believe that someone would do that," he says.  "It's such an act of kindness."

And he queries, "How do you thank someone for saving your life?"

Photo below shows Stephanie Routley, John Routley, Bernhard Wimmer, Susi Wimmer, Lena Wimmer, Elfriede Wimmer, and Cassidy Routley

*special thank you to Jackie Nydegger for translating

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