Chapter 3

My name is Teagan, a name my sister chose for me, symbolizing lush greenery and vitality. I came into this world for my sister, Ariah.

Ariah was diagnosed with leukemia when she was six years old. In our country, millions of patients with blood disorders desperately await stem cell transplants each year, yet only a minuscule 0.03% receive the treatment they need. Sadly, Ariah wasn't among these few.

In a desperate bid for a solution, the doctors recommended that my parents have another child, hoping the cord blood from the new baby might match for a bone marrow transplant. The…