Sixteen members of the FDNY are being honored this year for giving the gift of life to strangers through bone marrow donations.

During the FDNY?s Honor Roll of Life ceremony Monday, two of the donors met their recipients. William Zask Jr. of Canarsie?s Engine 257 met 4-year-old Alex Cruz of Puerto Rico for the first time. Cruz?s family searched six months for a matching donor for their son, who had a rare bone disorder.

Firefighter Louis Dym says he never thought twice about donating to 12-year-old Canadian Coleman Sierens, a leukemia patient. He says donating seemed like a great and different way to help somebody.

Zask and Dym say they plan to keep in touch with their recipients for years to come so they can watch them grow up healthy and happy.

The latest 16 inductees into the Honor Roll of Life bring the total to almost 100 since 1990. The Honor Roll of Life is run by the National Marrow Donor Program and the New York Blood Center.

Related Information:Bone marrow info