Local teen carries on firefighter’s legacy

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2002 | 11:22 a.m.

Thirteen-year-old Chantyl Peterson will tell the world today about the heroism of one firefighter who died Sept. 11.

She won't dwell on his actions as he charged into the World Trade Center, instead she'll tell the press and members of the International Association of Fire Fighters that New York City firefighter Terry Farrell was a quiet hero.

He saved her life.

Eight years ago Farrell donated bone marrow that was transplanted in Chantyl.

Today the Henderson teenager will help kick off a national campaign to increase bone marrow donors.

"It's a good way to follow in Terry's footsteps and to let them know what kind of difference they can make," Chantyl said. "I'm thankful I can even do this."

Chantyl had been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a disease for which a transplant is the only cure.

Aplastic anemia is a rare but serious blood disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce necessary red and white blood cells and platelets. The disease is characterized by fatigue, bleeding and infection which occurs when blood cell levels fall to low levels.

After failing to find success fighting the disease with drugs, Chantyl was put on the National Marrow Donor Program registry. But she faced long odds because bone marrow needs to be matched between people to try to assure a successful transplant.

Farrell, who had been registered through a New York City Fire Department initiative, turned up as the best match.

Chantyl will become a national spokeswoman for the the National Marrow Donor Program, which works with the registry.

Farrell wanted to take the program national before he died, Helen Ng, spokeswoman for the National Marrow Donor Program, said.

"What she's able to do is keep Terry's promise and dream alive now that he can't," Ng said.

The initiative, called "Be Someone's Hero," is designed to recruit firefighters. The program was founded by Mark Kwalwasser, a New York City firefighter who lost his sister to leukemia. Kwalwasser helped recruit 7,500 firefighters from the city department.

Today there are more than 4.7 million people on the registry, but there is still a need, said Marrow Foundation volunteer Amy Burger. The registry is looking for people between 18 and 60 who are in good health.

Kwalwasser said Farrell viewed the donation as another part of being a firefighter.

"It was just an extension of our job which is life-saving," he said. "If we can't help someone by going down a smoke-filled hallway we can help by giving a little blood."

The donation initiative will also help the firefighters focus on something positive, he said.

"Terry's death was just evil," Kwalwasser said. "We're trying to save lives, and it's tremendous. It's a good thing. ...

"It's time to move on."

Farrell's brother Kevin said his brother shared a mentality common among emergency services workers, that saving a life is a "no-brainer."

For Chantyl, that simple act was a last chance at life. It worked, and she returned to health.

"You'd do the Heimlich maneuver on someone who's choking or stop traffic for someone who's bleeding to death," Farrell said, noting a marrow donation is a simple procedure. "For this, all you have to do is take a nap."

When he heard his brother had donated, Farrell said he wasn't surprised, recalling memories of his brother carrying a man in a wheelchair down two flights of stairs and saving a father and son from a house fire.

Chantyl, though, had to wait to find that out. Under rules agreed to before the transplant, the two went a year before a mutually agreed upon meeting. And then she went to New York City.

"It will probably be the most important moments of her life," Ng said. "Because of Terry, Chantyl has the rest of her life. She gets to go to college and could be the first woman president, if that's what she wants."

She'll remember Farrell, 45, who died in the World Trade Center collapse. They grew close over the years since the transplant, exchanging letters. Chantyl and her family visited New York a few times, the last time for Farrell's funeral.

Since the transplant, Chantyl has been campaigning for the cause of marrow donation, and this year's IAFF convention was a great opportunity to attract more potential donors, Burger said.

For Chantyl's mother Sheri Peterson, the fact that her daughter is able to speak at the event is a testament to Farrell's heroism.

"Terry lives on through Chantyl," she said. "She's a perfect role model because of all she's been through."

Chantyl was scheduled to appear with Terry Farrell's brother Kevin at the convention today, an appearance her mother hopes will save lives.

"Anything that will help the registry grow is a good thing," she said. "I knew when her life was saved that she had a lot more going for her."

For more information on the Marrow Foundation, call (800) MARROW-2 or visit www.marrow.org.