Soviets' hero pilot of Chernobyl blast gets bone marrow

SEATTLE A Soviet pilot suffering a precancerous conditionbecause of his heroic flights to stanch radiation from the Chernobylnuclear plant in the Ukraine underwent a transplant of bone marrowrushed from a French donor on Friday.

Four years and a day after the Chernobyl disaster, marrowdonated by a 42-year-old woman was flown to Seattle for transfusioninto Anatoly Grishchenko.

The marrow arrived on a British Airways flight at 7 p.m.,Chicago time. The operation began less than two hours later, saidSusan Edmonds of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Edmonds said starting the procedure was as simple as linking thebag with about one quart of marrow …