After going to the hospital to donate bone marrow in a bid to save the life of a 14-year-old boy in France, Derrick Nelson, principal of Westfield High School in New Jersey suffered complications after the bone marrow donation, according to his school officials.
And after being contacted by Be the Match, Derrick Nelson decided to donate his bone marrow to save the boy, the school’s newspaper reported in February. He was told by the bone marrow donor program that his blood might be a match.
Nelson told the paper just after his bone marrow donation that “If it’s just a little bit of pain for a little bit of time that can give someone years of joy, it’s all worth it.”
In a statement to CNN, Braker said Nelson “was a tremendous father to our beloved daughter Morgan and the best companion and life partner I could have ever asked for.”
“He loved his family almost beyond belief. He was a man who carried himself with dignity, courage and compassion,” she continued. “His last kind and generous act on this earth in giving so someone else might live is a true testament to who he was and how he should always be remembered. We will always love him.”
And in an open letter by Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan to parents, she said, “Dr Nelson touched us all with his kindness, compassion, integrity, and endlessly positive attitude.
“We hold him and his family in our hearts as we grieve this loss together and I know you join me in granting his family the privacy they have requested.”
Nelson, 44, joined Westfield in 2010 as assistant principal of Roosevelt Intermediate School. And according to Dolan, he has served in the US Army Reserve for more than 20 years.
Shelly Brindle was also devastated to hear the news as she said on Facebook,
“This is a tremendous loss for our community, and I know that our children, and we as parents, will struggle with coming to terms with this over the coming days and weeks,” she said. “He was a man of immense character and kindness, and his legacy will live on in the generations of students whose lives he touched.”