The story of the Kunsan airman that saved the life a young Korean woman by donating his blood to combat her rare form of lieukemia is one I have profiled before here on the ROK Drop.  It is really a great story that involved a lot of great leadership on Kunsan Airbase to make happen.  Now the woman who’s life was saved had a chance recently to meet the man that saved her life:

A local South Korean woman and the Kunsan Air Base Airman whose blood donation saved her life met for the first time when she visited here Nov. 21.

Airman Tamarias Pope of the 8th Security Forces Squadron met up with 22-year-old You Jin Pak, allowing the 19-year-old Airman to put a face to the person his lifesaving donation reached.

“Meeting her was a really good experience,” Airman Pope said. “Most people that give blood don’t really get to meet the person that they saved. She looked healthy. She looked happy. That made me happy.” (….)

The first meeting between patient and Samaritan took place at the 8th SFS headquarters. Customary greetings and bows were exchanged as well as a more informal hug between two strangers whose lives became intertwined after a simple call for help.

Ms. Pak, her parents and Dr. Park were then given a quick tour of the base. They were shown around the security forces building before heading to an entry control point where Airman Pope explained some of his daily duties. The next stop on the tour was the 35th Fighter Squadron where Ms. Pak was fitted with a flight suit and jacket. The tour ended with a visit to the flightline where she got to see an F-16 Fighting Falcon up close and got to climb into the aircraft.

“I had a lot of fun,” Ms. Pak said. “It was thrilling experience for me to visit the air base. When I was in the cockpit, I wanted to fly.”  [USFK Website]

Once again great job by Airman Pope and the rest of the people at Kunsan involved with making this life saving story possible.