 This story is about a family who made a decision to benefit members of the Pittsburgh community, perhaps even save someone’s life. Their heroism started with a simple and painless donation…umbilical cord blood.
On November 21, 2007 Kayla and Matt Lang welcomed a baby girl, Madison, into the world. Maddie, as she is now nicknamed, is their first child and they had a decision to make – whether or not they should save or donate her umbilical cord blood before it was discarded as medical waste.
To the right: Matt and Kayla Lang pose with their new daughter, Maddie, the first cord blood donor at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.
Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC now offers three cord blood options under the Dan Berger Cord Blood Program – donate to a public bank, donate to research, or save in a private bank for the family’s use.
Matt and Kayla, the first to donate their baby's cord blood at Magee’s newly established program, decided to donate to a public bank, which has the potential to save lives of members in the Pittsburgh community. One factor that influenced their decision to donate publicly was Kayla’s friend who had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and was helped by stem cells. They wanted to help others with similar ailments. Another influential factor was that Matt’s father died of cancer in 2005 and they wanted to do all they could to help people that are battling cancer as well as any other diseases that can be helped by stem cell transplants.
The Lang’s were impressed with Dr. Ira Rock, who delivered Maddie, because he took the time to make sure he understood how to do the actual collection and what to do after it was collected. He took the time to read over the paperwork that came with the kit since he had not dealt with it before that.
Kayla said, “We’re happy we did it and are proud to be the first to donate at Magee. And if given the chance, we would definitely do it again.”
The Dan Berger Cord Blood Program was established in October 2007 and was named after the late Dan Berger, a Pittsburgh attorney who underwent a successful stem cell transplant to overcome cancer, but then tragically died of a heart attack in 2006.
Carol Berger, widow of Dan Berger, was thrilled with the first Magee donation stating, “We need people like the Lang’s to recognize the great need for stem cells and how easy it is to donate. There are a lot of people who can’t find a stem cell match and if we can build an enormous bank of cords, then we’ll be able to keep up with the research and medical development so that a lot of the diseases that we have now and can’t do anything about, can be cured in the future. They say if you are helping one person, you are helping the world. Anyone who does that should feel really good about what they have done.”
OUR COMMITMENT TO: Dan Berger Cord Blood Program
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIVING: Dan Berger Cord Blood Program
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