Jimmy Kimmel show connects Rowlett resident with man whose life she saved

ROCKWALL, TX – October 20, 2020 — Sixteen years ago, Rowlett resident Shannon Weishuhn donated her bone marrow to 19-year-old Johnathan Dodson of Pennsylvania who was battling leukemia. In late September on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! supported by Baileys, Shannon got to meet the man whose life she saved for the very first time, on national television.

“I was in tears when I got that first call from the show producers learning that Johnathan was still alive and well after the transplant surgery 16 years later, and that I would get to meet him,” Shannon said.

Johnathan, who works as an ICU nurse in Kimmel Township, Penn., was selected as the show’s Healthcare Hero of the Week. During the episode, Kimmel surprised Johnathan by connecting him virtually with Shannon, allowing him to meet the woman he calls his hero.

Johnathan told Shannon he had been thinking about that moment of getting to meet his miracle donor for the past 16 years.

“How do you thank someone who saved your life essentially because of one selfless act? I don’t think you realize the impact you had with just that one instance,” Johnathan told Shannon. “You kept my mother from losing her son, kept my siblings from losing their brother. More importantly, I have two little boys now and you’re the reason they are here. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Shannon described the day she joined the Be The Match bone marrow donor registry as a fairly ordinary day. She and a friend were out shopping at the mall when she spotted a National Marrow Donor Program kiosk (the program operates the Be The Match Registry® of bone marrow donors). She was curious to find out more, since at the time she didn’t know much about the bone marrow donation process. She gave a sample of her blood to be registered into the Be the Match database, hoping that one day she might be matched to donate her bone marrow for someone in need.

A few years later, she got a phone call: they had found her potential “DNA twin”, as Shannon described it. His name was Jonathan Dodson, a resident of Claysburg, Penn. who was battling leukemia and desperately need a transplant. Additional testing confirmed that they were as close a match as they could get, considering they weren’t from the same family.

“When I got the call confirming we were a match and they asked if I wanted to move forward with the transplant, for me that was the easiest yes ever,” Shannon said.

The surgery happened in 2004, and then-19-year-old Johnathan was able to beat leukemia thanks to Shannon. Because of her incredibly selfless act of joining the Be The Match Registry®, Johnathan himself went on to become an ICU nurse and a proud father of two boys.

Ever since she was young, Shannon had a desire to help others. That’s what led her to enter the medical field and help people who were ill. She found her passion in nursing and has been a Registered Nurse for the past 25 years. She currently helps young women in their pregnancies at the Pregnancy Resource Center in Rockwall.

“I think it is an honor for someone to trust you enough to let you into their space, whether they’re ill or they’re going through something difficult emotionally or spiritually. It’s an honor that they allow you to be a part of that process. That’s my favorite part about being in healthcare; to see a smile on a face from someone who feels they’ve received really good care.”

Kimmel surprised both Johnathan and Shannon at the end of their conversation on the show with an announcement that they would each receive $10,000 donated from friends and family, and gift cards for each of their coworkers at their respective places of work, courtesy of Baileys.

While giving blood was the primary way to join the Be The Match Registry® back in the early 2000s, today it is even easier with a DNA sample. One swab of the cheek, and your name gets entered into their database, where you have the chance to potentially be matched and save a life just like Shannon. Be The Match also covers the entire cost of the transplant for the donor plus flights, hotels, and meals, as well as the recipient costs that are not covered by insurance.

To join the registry and save a life, visit https://join.bethematch.org/kimmel.

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News. Courtesy photos.

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