MACON, Ga. — LaTonia King and Katrina Jones embrace for the first time. You'd think they were life-long friends, but 15 years ago they were strangers -- until Jones saved King's life.
"I was on a floor where people were dying, and waiting on the list, and they just didn't get a donor, and they didn't make it," said King.
In 2004, doctors diagnosed King with chronic leukemia. She battled the cancer for about a year and a half and desperately needed a bone marrow transplant. That's where Jones stepped in.
"If it wasn't for her doing what she did, what are the chances of me being here?" said King.
According to 2017 statistics from Be the Match, only 8%, or 800,000 of more than 12 million bone marrow donors are African American.
Be the Match says when it comes to matching people, a patient's ethnic background is important.
Some ethnic groups have more complex tissue types than others, so a person's best chance of finding a donor may be with someone of the same ethnic background.
That's why Jones made her donation.
"I couldn't imagine not doing it, if you were able to do it, because it was life changing for someone else," said Jones.
Once King fully recovered, she reached out to Jones to thank her.
I got to see my children grow up, I got to see my daughter graduate from high school. I thought I would never do that," said King.
It didn't stop with just one call. Jones and King have called each other regularly for years.
"We would talk through Facebook and phone calls. The phone calls usually last an hour," they both said.
The donation didn't just save a life, it also created a life-long friendship.
"I feel like I have a new family now -- we are family now actually. I just feel like we are family now. Its just amazing," says King.
Both King and Jones' family were also there to meet. They all ate dinner together and enjoyed getting to know one another.