Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano and the New York Blood Center honored on Wednesday six firefighters who donated bone marrow in the eighth annual "Honor Roll of Life" induction ceremony.

The honor roll is comprised of 140 firefighters who have made a lifesaving bone marrow donation.

Firefighter James Wildes, 37, is one of the luckier ones, as he got to meet the recipient of his donation, Alise Williams, 6, of Evansdale, Iowa.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world to know that you were matched to somebody and that it actually helped someone, it worked, that it saved someone. It’s unbelievable,” said Wildes.

Wildes' donation came six years after he signed on to the bone marrow registry. It was the answer to Alise's family's desperate search for a match following the discovery that she had a rare blood disorder called Fanconi anemia. That happened after Alise underwent two heart surgeries as a baby.

"I seen my little girl die twice, and if it wasn't for this man, right here, she wouldn't be here today," said Troy Williams, Alise’s father.

Alise received the transplant in 2009, and while her health challenges are certainly not over, her family said without that transplant, they may not have such a healthy daughter today.

"Thank you means a lot to him, but he doesn’t need that gratification-type thing. There’s no words to tell him how grateful I am. I mean, she’s here today because of him,” said Deb Williams, Alise’s mother.

Only about a dozen recipients have met their donors on the Honor Roll of Life. It's a rare occasion, and Wildes said he jumped at the opportunity when asked by the Blood Center.

“It's telling a story, really getting people to understand how one person can influence the life of somebody else,” said Rob Purvis of the New York Blood Center.

The 140 members on the Honor Roll of Life make up 13 percent of all donors to the New York Blood Center. Officials say they hope more people are inspired by Alise's recovery to join the registry themselves.

The timing of this meeting was not by chance: January happens to be donor awareness month.