SULLIVAN — Between the driving time and the procedure, it took Bernie Ring 16 hours to receive treatment for rejection problems due to a bone marrow transplant.

Now instead of a 600-mile trip to and from Boston, the Sullivan resident drives to Brewer to receive treatment for graft vs. host disease.

And it’s all thanks to the dedication and hard work of his fiancée, Debbie Crowley of Sullivan, and her sister, Betty Weidner of Gouldsboro.

The two led a fund-raising drive and raised more than $80,000 to buy a photopheresis machine for Eastern Maine Medical Center’s CancerCare of Maine at the Lafayette Family Cancer Center in Brewer.

The immunotherapy equipment is used to treat complications from illnesses such as leukemia and heart and lung transplants and also has been used to treat several autoimmune diseases.

“We thought Bernie can’t be the only one,” Betty said of other patients they envisioned could be helped by having the equipment closer to home.

King was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002 and underwent a bone marrow transplant at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

He was confined to his house and truck for 16 months, but contracted the graft vs. host disease — which manifested itself as a debilitating skin condition — in his first foray outside.

In 2009, Ring began traveling to Boston regularly for treatment.

The photopheresis machine collects a small amount of white blood cells, treats them with medicine and then a special ultraviolet photo light is turned on and the cells are returned to the bloodstream.

Betty and Debbie were guided by employees at Healthcare Charities, who told them they could attain their goal, one donation at a time.

First they formed a committee and then drafted a letter, which the fund-raising organization helped refine. Over time they mailed 500 letters to anyone they could think of who might help.

For more health news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.