| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Dr. Anh Nguyen Reiss passed away on February 26, |
|
|
2016, at the age of 48 after realizing many exceptional |
|
|
achievements as a doctor and as an advocate for bone marrow |
|
|
donation; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A native of South Vietnam, Anh Reiss immigrated with |
|
|
her family to the United States as a young girl and grew up in New |
|
|
Orleans; she later relocated to Houston, where she graduated as |
|
|
salutatorian of North Shore Senior High School and received her |
|
|
undergraduate degree in economics from Rice University; after |
|
|
earning her medical degree cum laude from the State University of |
|
|
New York at Brooklyn, she began her medical practice at Memorial |
|
|
Hermann Southwest Hospital; she went on to deliver thousands of |
|
|
newborns over the course of her career as an obstetrician and |
|
|
gynecologist, and she found great fulfillment in her work; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 2009, Dr. Reiss was diagnosed with a |
|
|
myelodysplastic syndrome, a preleukemic condition that can only be |
|
|
cured with a bone marrow transplant; she faced great difficulty in |
|
|
finding a donor match, due to the fact that people of Vietnamese |
|
|
descent were among the least represented on the national bone |
|
|
marrow registry; with the support of her family, including her |
|
|
husband, Joshua, and two children, Alexandra and Aaron, she spread |
|
|
the word in the Vietnamese American community about the need for |
|
|
donations; the work of Dr. Reiss and her team of volunteers |
|
|
ultimately helped more than double the number of registered |
|
|
Vietnamese bone marrow donors; although Dr. Reiss succumbed to her |
|
|
illness before her match was found, she was instrumental in |
|
|
connecting numerous other patients with viable donors; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Dr. Anh Reiss made a positive difference in numerous |
|
|
lives, and memories of her courage and commitment continue to |
|
|
inspire those who are carrying on her quest to promote bone marrow |
|
|
donation; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Dr. Anh Nguyen |
|
|
Reiss and commend her outstanding efforts as a donation advocate; |
|
|
and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for her family as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
|
|
House of Representatives. |