Refugee Receives Bone Marrow of Vietnamese Brother

CHICAGO — A Vietnamese refugee critically ill with a blood disease today underwent a bone marrow transplant from his brother, who was flown from Vietnam in an unprecedented cooperative effort between that nation and the United States.

Vo Tien Duc began getting the transplant about 10:30 a.m., said Michael Ward, a spokesman for Loyola University Medical Center in suburban Maywood.

Duc, 33, had been in intensive care at the medical center since late April, when his brother, Vo Hoang Van, 18, was flown in from his home in the Mekong Delta to make the donation needed to save Duc’s life. The government of Vietnam granted Van a temporary visa to make the trip.

Ward said Van donated the marrow today and remained hospitalized. The operation was delayed until today because Duc was too sick to undergo the transplant.