Grandmother Trekking Cross County to Promote Bone Marrow Registry

By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A grandmother is trekking across the country to spread the word on the importance of the bone marrow registry.

Jeana Moore is walking from Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles to New York and stopped by Oklahoma City on the way.

"Oklahoma has been amazing, everybody I meet. I say I love Oklahoma," Moore said.

Moore's granddaughter, 3-year-old Jada Bascom, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was born in April of 2007. After hundreds of transfusions and plenty of prayers, a bone marrow donor came along.

"She had a bone marrow transplant and only one person in the world matched her, a 36-year-old man from Germany," Moore said.

In 2008, Jada came home from Seattle in remission and today, she is recovering and living life as a happy, healthy toddler.

Firefighters across Oklahoma have been helping Moore along the way with food, water and shelter.

"I walk alone. I don't have a car that follows me, so I really needed to rely on the generosity of others to stay safe on the roads," Moore said. "The firemen have been very helpful in this heat wave and the high humidity to help me get off the highways."

With every step, Moore said she believes her walk has a higher purpose -- to help someone else as one man half a world away saved her little Jada.

"We are so blessed there are so many stories and so many families who haven't found donors, and it's an honor and privilege to be able to walk and talk to people every day," Moore said.

Learn more about Steps to Marrow.