Deputy Sherriff Saved by Trans-Atlantic Stem Cell Donation Meets Her Hero

Sherry Hanley of Slatington just met for the first time the young man from Germany who saved her life eight years ago.

Hendrik Gericks had never met Sherry, either. He donated stem cells through Be The Match back in 2016 when she was battling leukemia. Sherry found out about Be the Match through her St. Luke’s oncologist, Yacoub Faroun, MD, who treated her up until – and after – her stem cell transplant.

Sherry was a deputy sheriff for Lehigh County in 2015 when she discovered a pinkish blotch on her skin. She thought it may have been related to a MRSA outbreak at Lehigh County Prison, where she often was responsible for transporting prisoners to the county courthouse.

After passing out at work, Sherry was rushed to St. Luke’s Allentown Campus, and after an initial round of bloodwork, was transferred to the Cancer Unit at St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus, where oncologist Dr, Faroun delivered the news that she had leukemia.

“Dr. Faroun was so personal and compassionate,” Sherry recalled of being hospitalized for 40 days while undergoing chemotherapy. “Dr. Faroun and his staff were wonderful. They did whatever was necessary. They gave me six months to live if I didn’t have a donor.”

After the donation, Be The Match only allows anonymous contact through their organization for a period of time. For Sherry and Hendrick, it was two years before they were allowed to know each other’s identity and were free to contact each other.

Hendrick had originally planned to come to the U.S. to meet Sherry in 2020, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He recently finished his master’s degree and will be in Bethlehem on Aug. 29, with his new wife, to meet Sherry.

“I was given six months to live and now I’m approaching nine years since my diagnosis,” Sherry said. “If it wasn't for St Luke’s Cancer Unit and Dr. Faroun helping me get to the level of transplant, I wouldn’t have known about the change of stem cells and Be The Match. My donor is coming from Germany to meet me. This is a selfless young man who saved my life, and he’s my hero.”