ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — A Roseville woman is still smiling tonight after meeting the 6-year-old girl from Texas she helped save with a bone marrow transplant.

Hillary Ingram, 23, relived the meeting that would have never happened if she hadn’t agreed to a simple procedure that took moments.

“Being able to actually visit her, it was incredible,” Ingram said.

A cheek swab revealed she was a match for 6-year-old Stevie Ray. The little girl in Denton, Texas—1,400 miles from Roseville—was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant as leukemia was ravaging her body.

“I was so excited to be a match,” Ingram said.

She didn’t hesitate donating her marrow to the little girl, or jumping at the chance to meet the recipient of her life-saving gift and her family.

“She’s healthy, bright future ahead of her,” Ingram said.

A previous smile and big, beautiful eyes wide open thanks to Hillary, who opened her heart so that Stevie Ray’s could keep beating.

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