Saturday, a Bronx teen met the woman who helped cure him of debilitating disease, from across the country. Borough reporter Erin Clarke has that story.

It was an emotional introduction.

The first time 16-year-old Darius Graham from the Bronx met his bone marrow donor Christi Pinkney-Owens.

"I was so thankful that I could finally meet her and just thank her how much I really appreciate her," said Graham.

He was born with Sickle Cell Disease — a debilitating disorder that affects about one out of every 365 Black or African-American children and causes red blood cells to become misshaped.

"These sickle cells can essentially get clogged in the vessels," said Dr. Monica Bhatia, a hematologist and oncologist with NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. "This can result in symptoms such as strokes, very painful crisis."

By 11 years old, Darius had suffered two strokes, the first one at age two.

Darius' body rejected cells from a previous bone marrow transplant, but his family refused to give up.

Last year another donor match was found in California.

"This was an awesome moment that I was waiting for since he was two years old and when they had that first stroke and we're here and thank God," said Darius' mother Verna.

Christi's gift allowed Darius to live life like any other kid his age.

His body is now 100 percent clear of sickle cells.

That means no more visits to the hospital for life sustaining treatments.

"I just knew that it was helping someone, so I did it," said Pinkney-Owens.

Darius and Christi's introduction was part of a sickle cell awareness day at the hospital. One of the things that participants could do was sign up to become a bone marrow donor. It's as simple as swabbing your cheek.

The actual procedure takes a couple of hours and uses a method similar to donating platelets of plasma.

Most people resume normal activities after a few days.

"It's not painful at all," Pinkney-Owens said. "You don't feel anything. I've given birth. That's way worse."

But donors don't know anything about the marrow recipient and aren't able to meet them until a year after the transplant. That's why this day was such a special one.

"I didn't know anything about his story so that made me very emotional," Pinkney-Owens said. "I feel very blessed to be a part of it."

One both families will cherish for years to come.