‘Without You I Wouldn't Be Alive Anymore’

A Georgia grandmother and a young German man are forever connected, thanks to a lifesaving donation

- Matt Kemper

THE HANDWRITTEN LETTER arrived at Dale Tingle’s home in Watkinsville, Georgia, after months of her praying for the survival of a person she’d never met.

She had been told little about the person, only that the individual was 20 years old and dying of leukemia. A scouring of the whole world had turned up Tingle as the only known person in possession of a possible lifeline: a perfect match of stem cells. So she had donated some and waited.

She and her husband, friends and family prayed for God to nourish and heal the stranger, wherever and whoever the person was. And because they didn’t know the person’s name, she chose one: Rocky, the same as the fighter who, in the movies, wouldn’t give up, no matter the odds. Then the letter arrived, festooned with glitter. It was written in English, not the writer's native language. No identity was disclosed due to strict rules governing contact between a donor and recipient in the first two years.

“I am 20 years old. I don't know wether [sic] you know me. ... By now, you have become one of the most important people in my life. Without you I wouldn't be alive anymore ... I had already given up hope. And now I am wondering what do you tell someone who has saved your life?” it read.

The letter went on: “It’s an amazing feeling to know that there is someone on the other side of the world who I am connected to so deeply, although I have never met you before. ... If it’s OK, I am going to see you as soon as possible.”

That eventual meeting was the beginning of an enduring bond between Kevin Krüger, a 6-foot-something German from a small town 4,500 miles away, and Tingle, a 5-foot-2 grandmother living near Athens, Georgia.