MINNESOTA CITY, MN (KTTC) Born with a life-threatening condition, a pair of twins in Minnesota is thriving thanks to a generous donor more than 4,000 miles away. With World Marrow Donor Day coming up, the twins are sharing their story.

Identical twins Elizabeth and Kathryn Girtler, 10, of Minnesota City, were both born with congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia.

“It basically means they were born with no platelets. So if they were to get scratched or fall down and get cut or bruised, they could bleed to death,” explained the twins’ mom, Michele.

So to make sure that didn’t happen, the twins had to live a sheltered life.

“They didn’t know anything other than these walls. We didn’t take them out to too many things. They didn’t go to the park, they never swam in a lake. We never went to a hotel pool with them,” said Michele. “We never did any of that because germs and cuts and infections just weren’t allowed.”

“I had no energy. I was always sleeping,” recalled Elizabeth. “And we would go to the toy area, then I would play with the dolls and then a few seconds later, like ‘I’m tired. Let’s go back to the room.'”

To cure their condition, the twins needed a bone marrow transplant.

And they each got one thanks to Ingo Gruda, a donor from Germany.

“It was almost like you could breathe again because there was hope,” said Michele.