Brad Crawford of Collinsville and a lieutenant colonel with the 186th Air Refueling Wing of the Mississippi Air National Guard at Key Field, is shown here with Liam Silva, a young California boy who is recovering from HLH thanks in large part to a bone marrow transplant provided by Crawford earlier this year.

    In mid-July, in a small town east of San Francisco, California, a little boy slumped in his mother’s arms suffering from a high fever and jaundice.

    Not unusual for someone so young. Children get sick all the time. But this illness would not go away. Doctors conducted test after test and slowly began to mark off the probability certain conditions were causing the child to slowly fade away. The parents of little Liam Silva, Jeff and Ann Silva, were sick with worry for their son.

    “Even my husband, Jeff, was frightened,” said Ann Silva in her online journal at CaringBridge.com. “I remember one day he came home, found me nursing Liam and knelt down in front of us, crying. What was happening to our little boy?”

    Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH, is basically a “revved up” autoimmune-style blood disease. HLH is fatal without a bone marrow transplant.

    “When HLH was confirmed, Liam was started on chemotherapy right away,” said Ann Silva. “We were relieved to finally know what he had, and mostly that it was curable, but we really had no idea what to expect next.”

    Ann Silva said in her journal the rest of their stay at the hospital was a blur. The next day after starting the chemo, Liam took a turn for the worse. He almost died that December.

    “There were definitely a few times when I stood crying my heart out in the back of our room while I watched nurses and doctors run in and out and frantically tend to my frighteningly still baby boy,” said Ann Silva.

    In 2004, 186th Air Refueling Wing Lt. Col. Brad Crawford, along with approximately 300 others from Key Field, volunteered to be registered in the C. W. ”Bill” Young Department of Defense Bone Marrow Registry.

    In late 2009, Crawford got a call that he was a possible match for a one-year- old male with a condition called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis or HLH.

    After a series of physicals and blood tests, it was determined that Crawford was indeed a suitable match for this little boy he’d never met. In January of 2010, he traveled to Georgetown University in Washington, D. C. to make the donation.

    “And the answer to the most commonly asked question is, no, it doesn’t hurt to do the procedure,” Crawford says smiling.

    Crawford is a humble kind of guy. He doesn’t seek out any sort of adulation for himself. He is content to work hard, raise his family in Collinsville as best he can with his wife, Sandra, and be a respectable person in his community. But when a person can directly save the life of another through an unselfish act, the spotlight does tend to seek you out.

    Surviving his close call in December of 2009, Liam was able to receive the transplant provided by Crawford in January of 2010. According to his mother, Liam is a completely normal two-year-old boy and is considered by doctors to be as healed as possible.

    From January 2010 until January 2011, Crawford was only able to know that Liam was doing well and would likely survive. In February 2011 Crawford agreed to let the family contact him by phone and through the social networking site, Facebook.

    “After learning the family is from just east of San Francisco, a town called Pleasant Hill, I realized that I had a conference in April in Reno, Nevada and that I might be able to see them while I was in the area,” Crawford says.  “So that is just what I did.”

    The union between the airman and Liam and his family was emotional and yet joyous at the same time. Although maybe too young to fully realize just how important Crawford is to his life, Liam will know one day that because of Crawford’s donation, he is alive and well.

    “Many people get the opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life, but rarely do you get to experience such a dramatic life saving outcome in such a short period of time,” said Ann Silva.

    In a recent post on Liam’s site for Caring Bridge, Dawn Hummer wrote, “So, so, so, AMAZING!!!!!!!  Even though I have heard the story about you meeting your Donor Angel, Brad, reading the story again is like reading the best book with the happiest ending and wanting to hear it over and over again. Annie, I am giddy reading your story. I have tingles up and down my arms.”

    To show their undying gratitude toward Crawford, the Silva family has invited Crawford’s family for an all expense paid trip to see them and Liam on July 23. They plan to have a meet and greet, a bone marrow registration drive, and silent auction fundraiser on Sunday the 24th.

    “The whole thing has turned out to be a success story on many levels and obviously one of the best things I have ever done!” says Crawford. “I can’t wait to see Liam.”

    Crawford is quick to point out he is only one of four people among the Key Field donors that have donated over the past 12 years, with the last one donating just last month.

    As for the upcoming trip to see Liam, Crawford says, “We will be back the first of August with a renewed appreciation for life!”