![Nicki Kremer, right, poses with her mother, Madelyn Balitz, at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa when Kremer was in her 20s. Kremer was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was 24. But today, at age 38, sheâs in remission, thanks to a stem cell donation from a stranger who lived in Kentucky. [Photo courtesy of Nicki Kremer]](https://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20190215/ARTICLE/190219757/AR/0/AR-190219757.jpg&MaxW=1200&Q=66)
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times
It’s been years since they met, but Nicki Kremer and Richard Davis remember every detail.
Kremer, a college student at the time, and her family were waiting at Tampa International Airport for Davis to arrive from Kentucky. Her hair was still short from the chemotherapy.
They knew Davis went by a nickname, “Bubby.” Then he appeared, wearing cowboy boots and holding his daughter.
“Nicki and Bubby looked at each other for the first time, and they just knew,” recalls Madelyn Balitz, Kremer’s mother. “We stood there in the airport crying. They walked out hand-in-hand. They are connected in so many ways.”
It’s been 14 years since Kremer spent months inside the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, unsure if she’d ever find a bone marrow donor who could save her life.
Now 38, she’s in remission, thanks to the stranger from Kentucky who donated stem cells for a transplant. And in just a few months “Bubby” will give her something else.
He’ll officiate at her wedding.