Charleston, SC (WLTX) - A South Carolina boy has finally met the man who saved his life six years ago through a bone marrow donation.
"It's full circle ya know," said Wendy Rickman, Jacob Rickman's mom. "It's Jacob's journey finally coming full circle."
Jacob's journey started eight years ago when he was two.
"He was diagnosed with severe food allergies at 6 months old, then kidney issues at 7 months old, diabetes at 8 months old and everything just kind of spiraled downhill from there," said Rickman who then spent 13 weeks at MUSC with her sick son. "No one at MUSC had ever seen anything like it."
The family traveled to hospitals nationwide, searching for a diagnosis when a doctor in Seattle said Jacob had Ipex. At the time Jacob was diagnosed, only 50 kids around the world were reported to have the disorder.
"Our only chance was to have a bone marrow transplant," said Rickman.
Doctors searched the globe for a donor and found a match in a young German man. Jacob called the man 'angel stranger'.
"He said I'll do i," said Jacob. "And the doctor got him and they drew blood from his hip."
The blood went from Andy Assar to Jacob and changed Jacob's blood type from A-Positive to O-Positive.
"He saved my life cuz I was almost going to die," said Jacob.
Six years since he received Andy's marrow, a plane taxied to a gate a Charleston International Airport and Andy was onboard.
In a meeting full of tears and excitement, Andy and Jacob met for the first time.
"Being able to hug someone who saved my son's life is a miracle," said Rickman.
Andy flew from Germany just to see Jacob. He was 21 when he initially made the decision to donate his bone marrow and save a life.
"He wanted to do that. That's why he signed up. That's why he wanted to be a donor," said Andy through a translator who will help him during his first trip to the states. "He wants to really do a lot of time with Jacob."