January 6, 2003 HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Two months after being sent to Virginia to finish serving an 11-year prison sentence for burglary, John "J.T." Glasper returned to Connecticut to save his brother's life.
Joseph Glasper, 20, needed a stem cell transplant to fight a rare and deadly form of a blood disease called aplastic anemia. His bone marrow had stopped making enough blood cells, compromising his immune system to the point where he would die within a day if he caught an infection.
John, 22, was Joseph's only match.
"He definitely wanted to do this," said Pat Ottolini, acting director of health services for the state Department of Correction, which had transferred John to Virginia in October to ease prison overcrowding. "He did this because it was his brother."
The brothers were close growing up in East Hartford, Joseph said, but then John was arrested, and he hadn't seen him outside court in three years.
Joseph, meanwhile, had joined the Army, but earlier this year he began feeling weak. While home on leave, he was diagnosed with aplastic anemia.
On Christmas Eve, the brothers were reunited when prison guards brought John to Yale-New Haven Hospital in shackles to meet with doctors.
"I just cried for a long time," Joseph said. "I told him I loved him and I missed him. ... He said, 'I would do anything to save your life."'
After the meeting, John was returned to the Connecticut prison, and doctors gave him injections of a drug that triggers the production of stem cells.
The transplant took place Thursday.
On Sunday, Joseph was in fair condition and had been awake and talking. He must remain hospitalized for several weeks while the stem cells reconstruct his immune system, and even after he leaves, he will have to guard against infections, including wearing a mask outside.
Once he is able to travel again, Joseph, who is on Army disability leave, said he will visit his brother in prison.
"I think about him all the time," he said. "It's really hard -- he's my only brother. No one can replace me and J.T."
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
