Good news for John J. York and his fans. The actor appeared on Good Morning America last week to share some hopeful news. A potential donor match had been found through the Be The Match, an organization that York is affiliated with.
On September 7, 2023, York announced that he was taking a "brief hiatus" from General Hospital, and several days later, he revealed that he'd been diagnosed with two blood and bone marrow disorders for which he has been receiving chemotherapy. In December 2022, York was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome and smoldering multiple myeloma. "Over the past many months I've had three bone marrow biopsies, many chemo treatments -- I have another one coming up in a couple of weeks -- and I'm closing in on a blood stem cell transplant," York shared.
During his GMA interview, York described the diagnosis as a "nuclear bomb" that changed his life, in part because he'd had no idea what had been going on. The actor said he'd felt healthy before doctors found the cancer but was told that he had just three to five years to live.
However, there is good news on the horizon. "I believe they found a match, a perfect match, which will make me cry. So, we're going to start our testing and do all that kind of stuff coming up here in about a week, and then I believe the transplant will happen, fingers crossed, in November," York explained. He admitted that it was a big deal because many of his family members had been tested, but most had just six out of twelve of the markers that were needed to be a match, so they had been put on standby.
When asked what York would say to the donor who was saving his life, the actor's voice cracked with emotion. "Thank you for saving my life. For letting me spend more time with my wife and my daughter and my son-in-law and my grandchildren and seeing this beautiful blue sky and all the beautiful trees around," York said. Initially, he had wanted to keep his health battle private, but he decided to go public to bring awareness to bone marrow donor registries. "The response has been overwhelming. Overwhelming for me," York said.
York urges anyone who is interested to consider being a donor. "What a wonderful thing to save someone's life." York urges anyone interesting in joining the registry to go to bethematch.org/matchformac.
York is still at work at General Hospital, and he's currently scheduling his work days around his doctor visits.
You can watch York's interview below.
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