West Allegheny High School sophomore Kristina Kocher, 15, saved her brother's life this summer.

The North Fayette teenager didn't pull him from a burning building or raging sea. But what she did do was deemed no less courageous. She donated bone marrow to her brother, Matthew, 12, a seventh-grader at West Allegheny Middle School who has been battling leukemia since March.

While her lifesaving act might not have occurred in an emergency situation, it qualified Kristina for an award from an organization she has been involved with since kindergarten.

The Girl Scouts of America recognized Kristina's heroism by honoring her with the Girl Scout Bronze Cross Lifesaving Award during a ceremony Sunday afternoon.

A national organization for girls in the United States, Girl Scouts seeks to cultivate values, social conscience and self-esteem in young girls while teaching them life skills to help them to succeed as adults.

The organization makes two distinctions in honoring members who save a life. A Medal of Honor is given to those who save a life without risking their own life, and the Bronze Cross is awarded to those who save a life while risking their own.

On July 15, after Matthew had undergone a third round of intensive chemotherapy which essentially would destroy all of his remaining bone marrow, Kristina underwent general anesthesia to have bone marrow removed from her hip. As soon as she was released from the recovery room, she went to be with Matthew, who was undergoing the transplant.

"It was a very emotional day for everyone, but to see Kristina and Matthew side by side, sharing a bond that only the two of them will ever be a part of, was amazing," said their mom, Lori Kocher.

Mrs. Kocher said that once Matthew was put on the path to transplant and the marrow-destroying chemotherapy treatment was finished, he would have died without the injection of bone marrow he received from his sister.

It was another 14 days before doctors confirmed that the transplant had been a success.

Matthew returned home Aug. 22 after having been hospitalized for all but about 30 days since he was admitted in March. Although the family was warned that most transplant patients have to return to the hospital to be treated for minor illnesses which can pose serious threats, Matthew has not had to go back for anything other than regular exams.

Kristina and her other brother, Michael, 6, had been tested to see if either was a match for Matthew. Although the chances were 20 percent that either would qualify by meeting at least five of the six criteria, Kristina turned out to be a perfect match.

"She repeatedly told us she wanted to be the match," Mrs. Kocher said.

A sibling bone marrow match meant that the success rate for a complete cure from the cancer jumps from less than 50 percent to as high as 84 percent for Matthew.

If Kristina had not been a match, Matthew would have had to endure two more rounds of chemotherapy and wait for the cancer to go into remission. If that had failed, doctors would have had to search for a match from the national bone marrow donor list.

For Kristina, who is so afraid of shots and needles she has never had her ears pierced, enduring repeated blood draws and the surgery was "a little nerve wracking."

Throughout the process, though, Kristina confidently referred to herself as Matthew's cure.

"I feel really good that he is home with us and able to do things again and be with his friends," Kristina said.

It was Kristina's Girl Scout leader, Lauren Crossley, of Troop 306, who recommended Kristina for the award.

She received it Sunday at a ceremony at the St. Columbkille Church in Oakdale. Girl Scouts Trillium Council Chief Executive Officer Marcia Barber presented the award.

"In my 13 years as a Girl Scout CEO, this is the first time that I have presented a Lifesaving Bronze Cross Award. This award truly is a tribute to Kristina's loyalty to her brother and family, as well as her heroic act of selflessness," Ms. Barber said.

Kristina, who has received the Girl Scout Silver Award, the organization's second highest merit-based award, hopes to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award by working to promote awareness of bone marrow transplantation.