Rider Gary Smith of Schellsburg, Pa., met Frances Ching of Sydney, Australia. In 2000 Smith donated marrow for a transplant that saved Ching’s life. Until Friday, the two had never met face-to-face or spoken.

Atlanta When Gary Smith of Schellsburg, Pa. met Frances Ching of Sydney, Australia Thursday there were no words. The two simply looked at each other, smiled and embraced as a room filled with people looked on.

         
Smith is one of the 12 members of the Five Points of Life Ride cycling team that’s traveling 2,000 miles through six Southeastern states.  On April 7, 2000 it was a donation of marrow from Smith, that saved the life of Ching 7,000 miles away. She’d been on a waiting list for six years, hoping that a match would be found. Thursday was the first time they’d ever met face-to-face or spoken to each other.

         
Transplants are done anonymously. All Smith knew was that a 33-year leukemia patient needed his marrow.

“I saw it go into the cooler and they said that it was going to the airport,” Smith told the group gathered for a press conference at LifeSouth’s Atlanta donor center.

Ching, now 42 , is a registered nurse who works with post-surgery patients. Back in 2000 all that she knew was that her donor was from the U.S. One year after the transplant, they both agreed to reveal their identities. They corresponded by mail and later e-mail. Ching had seen photos of Smith. He’d seen photos of her cats, Bobby McGee and Oscar. When Ching was introduced, it was their first face-to-face encounter and a total surprise for Smith’s teammates, who’d been moved by his story on the ride.

Smith, 56, a state parks manager in Pennsylvania, is one of 7 million Americans who has volunteered with the National Marrow Donor Program Registry that connects patients to a network of 11 million donors around the globe.

A shared ethnic background increases the chances that the tissue of a donor and recipient will match, but Smith and Ching beat the odds.

“We’re more alike on the inside than we are on the outside,” said Smith said, who frequently jokes that he changed Ching from a positive person to a negative, since the transplant changed her blood type from A-positive to A-negative.

Ching said she was nervous about the meeting and traveling solo half way around the globe. But within a few minutes, she was looking relaxed as she and Smith chatted. Smith only learned of the meeting five days ago, but kept it secret from his teammates. He was proudly wearing the “Softy” leather bush hat that Ching had presented him. She will be joining the team as it rides on to Gainesville, Ga. and Clemson, S.C. in her first-ever visit to America.

“I knew it would happen one day,” Ching said.