Emotional moment: 10-year-old Long Island girl meets bone marrow donor for first time

JAMAICA, NY -- A girl from Long Island whose life was saved by a bone marrow transplant met her donor Wednesday.

Moments before the meeting, Nora Getchell, 10, of Mastic Beach, could hardly contain her excitement.

"Are you nervous?" Eyewitness News reporter Kristin Thorne asked.

"Kind of," Getchell said.

Several years ago, Nora was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. It's a disorder in which the body doesn't make enough new blood cells.

After two failed bone marrow procedures, Nora had few options left. That was, until Kevin Cowley, a father of two who works at a power plant in Minnesota, stepped forward.

The bone marrow worked.

Eyewitness News met Nora back in April on Long Island. Her mother, Maureen, was trying to raise money to fly Cowley and his family to New York.

That also worked.

Wednesday morning at JFK Airport in Queens, Getchell met Cowley for the first time.

"It's just amazing, actually, getting to meet her and see her great smiling face and see just how healthy she is," Cowley said.

"What were you thinking as you saw him walking down there?" Thorne asked Getchell.

"Really excited," Getchell said.

It was a meeting Getchell's mother has been eagerly awaiting.

"It's emotional, it's emotional. It's been a long trip," Maureen Getchell said.

Cowley brought a gift for Nora -- a bracelet he made. It will go perfectly with another special piece of Nora's jewelry.

Wednesday night, they're all going to enjoy a big lobster dinner. And then it's a week of festivities, including camping on Long Island, visiting Montauk and checking out the city. All in a celebration of life.