Featured fundraiser: Jessie Fetterling

Twelve years ago, Jessie’s mom was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare blood cancer. She went through various clinical trials hoping for a cure, but unfortunately did not have any luck. 

In the summer of 2020, doctors shared the news that her mom would need a bone marrow transplant.

In February 2021, Jessie’s mom had her transplant and it appeared to be successful. She was able to leave the hospital a few days early, she reached her 100-day mark—a pivotal post-transplant mark for patients—and her doctors were feeling hopeful and confident. 

However, in the beginning of June 2021, Jessie’s mom developed graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in which her own immune cells began attacking her new cells. 

Within a week and a half of this diagnosis, Jessie’s mom passed away. 

 “On Sunday I was FaceTiming her [mom] as she made jokes and was her funny, sarcastic self. On Thursday I flew out to be with her, but by this point she was already slipping away. And by Saturday, she died,” says Jessie.

Inspiration to start a Team Be The Match fundraiser 321
Jessie connected very deeply to the patient, Ruby, featured in the Champion Your Community fundraising campaign. Ruby is a 5-year-old, Black American living with sickle cell disease and is still fighting to find a matching donor. 

“It broke my heart because my husband is Black and my daughter is biracial and I know that minorities have a much harder time finding a matching donor. I wanted to help,” says Jessie.

Jessie hopes that her fundraiser—which is taking place during her mom’s birthday month—she will be able to pay it forward to other struggling patients and their families. She wants the money she’s raising for Be The Match to make it possible for there to be even more medical advancement down the road, in turn helping to save as many lives as possible.


Other ways to help others
Jessie wants people to understand that even if you’re not financially able to donate any money, you can still help save lives by joining the Be The Match Registry. It’s simple to join the registry.  It’s just a simple cheek. It takes just a few minutes and you could give someone a second chance at life. 

Jessie says, “As a whole, Be The Match is a very cool organization. Complete strangers are able to donate their bone marrow to people in need.” 

Anyone is able to start a fundraising page like Jessie did. Start yours today! 

Within just a few days, Jessie raised over $500! This is a truly impressive accomplishment. Help patients by donating to Jessie’s fundraiser.