Patient donor stories

My brother was diagnosed with Acute Myloid Leukemia around the age of five in 1994, as this type of cancer requires a bone marrow transplant from a relative with the exact type of DNA as my brother my family underwent testing to find a donor, Joshua being one of only three siblings the outlook wasn’t very good. You can have ten siblings and not one be a match but miraculously I was an exact donor. Being only three and at the time of the operation anaesthetic of the time alone was a huge danger to such a young child. Luckily…

In March this year, bone marrow donor Max and patient Lawrence met for the first ever time! When Lawrence Trace, 59, from Wales was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2005, his only hope was a bone marrow transplant. There was only one suitable match on the worldwide register – 21 year old Max Jeckeln from Raunheim, Germany. Max donated his stem cells at a hospital in Germany, which were delivered to the University Hospital of Wales the next day, and within hours Lawrence received his transplant. The pair built up a close friendship over letters, emails and phone, and the family…

Gift of Life held the Steps for Life 5K Run and Walk of Boston on Sunday, April 30. For two special people among the nearly 700 people arriving at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, this was one of the most exciting days of their lives – they were about to meet for the first time, and one of them had saved the other’s life. How do you save someone you’ve never even met? You cure that stranger’s life-threatening cancer by sharing your peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow.   After waiting for nearly two years since the transplant took place,…

Petrozavodsk is a small town at Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe. Here is situated one of the first register of unrelated donors of hematopoietic stem cells in Russia– Karelian department. The effectiveness of the register is the great merit of volunteers. There is one special person among all volunteers. Her name is Natasha Kovaleva. This fragile young woman has fought off leukemia thanks to the Karelian register of unrelated donors of hematopoietic stem cells and now helps others. For the first time the disease crippled Natasha when she was 21. It all started with the common cold,…

When Robert Skirboll went to his doctor in 2009, he complained about problems with ongoing fatigue. After a few blood tests, a specialist told him he had a chronic blood condition that would have to be treated with regular blood transfusions. Feeling that he should get a second opinion, he sought out the Wake Forest University Hospital, where he learned that myelodysplastic disorder is actually a form of cancer, and he needed immediate chemotherapy. After a short remission his condition continued to deteriorate, and doctors recommended a blood stem cell transplant in the hopes of replacing his bone marrow and…

Erik Gracia Erik Gracia was just two years old when diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a cancer of the blood. After undergoing months of intense chemotherapy, he went into remission but relapsed in 2012 at the age of nine. This time Erik required a stem cell transplant to save his life and without a match in his family, Erik would have to rely on the generosity of unrelated donor. 3000 kilometres away 20-year old Texas college student Brent Lewelling received a phone call telling him that that a little boy in Canada needed his help – he was a…

Mackenzie Curran In 2013, at the age of 16, Mackenzie Curran was diagnosed with myelodyplastic syndrome, a  cancer that prevents the bone marrow from producing enough healthy blood cells.  To survive, Mackenzie needed to find an unrelated stem cell donor. An honour student and elite athlete, Mackenzie was  a vibrant and active teenager with a world of opportunity ahead of her.  Her family was reeling from the news of MacKenzie’s disease, and hopeful that a match would be found through Canada’s OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. Fortunately, in November of the same year, Mackenzie’s family learned a donor in…

Steven Larigakis Dr. Steven Larigakis was a well-established family physician practicing in British Columbia, Canada. He was an avid cyclist and swimmer, and loved spending time with family.  In May of 2011 he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive T-cell lymphoma. After, three rounds of chemotherapy, his kidneys and liver were failing and his condition was nearing end stage. A stem cell transplant was his only hope. A match was found through Canadian Blood Services’ OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network and in September 2011, Dr. Larigakis received the stem cell transplant that saved his life. Knowing that your…

Muhannad Pediatric Patient from (KSA) and (German Donor) Muhannad was diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia, which required regular transfusions of platelets and red blood cells, and his needs to transfusions increased to almost weekly. There were no matched donor in the family nor extend family. Fortunately, he reached out the Saudi Stem Cell Donor Registry (SSCDR) and found a matched donor from the German Registry. Donor has accepted to donate stem cell and helped Muhanned with stem cell infusion until he recovered. When one person caring about another this represents life’s greatest value, stem cell donors are the ultimate caregivers heroes….

DKMS is saying #ThankYouDonor this World Marrow Donor Day by highlighting an amazing and truly inspirational donor and recipient story.   Marco, from Germany, was diagnosed with Leukaemia in February 2012 and was told that he would need a blood stem cell donation in order to survive. In August of that year, he received a blood stem cell donation from his donor Daniel, who lives in Nottingham in the UK. Four years later, they met for the first time this August. Daniel visited Marco and his family in Germany and they enjoyed a great time together, including a visit to…

Ralf and John, International help crossing borders In 2007 initial typing for a diseased friend was done at the Red Cross Blood Donation Service. At the end of the year confirmatory typing followed to check compatibility for an unknown patient. In April 2008 Ralf underwent a successful donation of stem cells without any problems. The transplant was delivered to a patient in Seattle associated with the best wishes for the recipient. Three months later Ralf received the message about patient´s engraftment and that the stem cell recipient was fine. He was indefinitely happy about this fact. In 2010 both donor…

We have so much to talk about! Thousands of patients around the world need a stem cell donor each year. Every day 46 voluntary donors donate their stem cells. They give hope to the once in need. There is a strong story behind each donation. Annually Czech NMDR gives the opportunity to a carefully selected donor and a recipient to meet for the first time face to face. In 2016 it was the turn for sixteen years old Nikol, who is 9 years after a successful transplant and the saver of her life Lenka. In the evening of April 22nd…

Since thirty years Stefan Morsch Foundation provides blood stem cells to many hospitals all around the world. In 2013 Birgit Germscheid from Germany received blood stem cells, from someone she did not know. In the meantime she has met her genetical twin: Iris Schmidt. See here more about both women:  

I’ve lived in the U.S. since 2001, when I traveled from Colombia to complete my economics degree at SUNY Albany. After I graduated, I moved to New York City and landed a job at Citigroup, where I worked for nearly seven years. During my time there, DKMS came to a company event to promote leukemia awareness and swab potential donors. I was swabbed that day and called as a potential match six months later. While I matched the patient, there was another potential donor with a closer match than mine. About a year later I was called back. This time,…

19 September 2015 was the first ever World Marrow Donor Day, when we celebrated the contributions of all marrow and cord blood donors worldwide. At the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the thank you gift on this special day was a collection of videos about real people whose lives have been saved, and who have saved lives, by bone marrow or cord blood donation. It was impressive movie, therefore we share it to inspire you for WMDD 2016. Crowd sourced patients video selfies were collected and interviews filmed to capture the donor and patient experience and give the patients a…

It is almost seven years ago since Dr. Sita Arjune (28 years old) registered with the DKMS. “A friend of mine also had blood cancer. He didn’t find a donor.” The young man died at just 24 years of age. After this, the qualified bio-chemist was highly motivated to do something to help others. Today Maheer Chirag Ghjadiyali is ten years old.  He comes from Ahmedabad, India. He has defeated his leukemia. Maheer is Indian, Sita Arjune was born in Cologne. Her father comes from Guiana, a former British colony in South America. They met at the 25th anniversary of…

When Elkhan Zaki-Zada was only one year old he was diagnosed with thalassemia. With thalassemia (“Mediterranean anaemia”), due to a genetic defect, only red blood cells with a reduced ability to transport vital oxygen are produced in the bone marrow. There are several types of thalassemia which differ in terms of severity. Patients who are severely affected, require regular blood transfusions. Unfortunately, over time the iron contained in these transfusions will lead to serious organ damage, which means that a timely bone marrow transplant is the only chance of survival for the patient. For Elkhan his illness was also a…

“I was really surprised when, 13 years later, they were still able to find me!” said Gabriel Sackett, a 31-year-old security manager at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. He had joined the Gift of Life Marrow Registry in September 2003 during a drive at Sh’or Yoshuv Institute in Lawrence, N.Y. “As soon as I had the opportunity to join the registry, I did it without hesitation. If it can save someone’s life, it must be done,” said Gabriel. What he had not counted on was that when the call came for him to donate peripheral blood stem…

Nairo is a Brazilian donor, who donated bone marrow on January, 2014. On July, 2015 he contacted Redome to know about his recipient, after this he sent an anonymous letter to Redome. After approval Redome sent it to recipient’s Registry. The recipient name is Dulce, she is a 6 years old girl from Argentine. After receive the letter Dulce’s family were really excited to know the Brazilian donor and they decided to release her personal information. When they assigned the consent forms recipient’s family shared a video by e-mail with some special moments from Dulce since she noticed about her diagnosis, her waiting period…

In Christmas 2010 Steve was working as the head teacher of a secondary school and lived with his wife and two daughters. Steve had just been skiing in France and came back feeling tired, with aching ribs and back. ‘I thought I must have cracked a rib or had a muscle injury or something – I certainly didn’t imagine anything could be seriously wrong,’ said Steve. One day not long afterwards Steve collapsed. He was taken to hospital where the doctors diagnosed him with myeloma, a form of blood cancer, which had also caused Steve’s kidneys to fail. ‘Talking to my family about…

A 42-year-old British man who has beaten cancer twice recently met the anonymous German stem cell donor who saved his life. Mark Ritson, a company director from Sheffield in the north of England, was diagnosed with severe aplastic anaemia in 2009, meaning his body did not produce enough new blood cells. At the time, the Anthony Nolan stem cell register searched worldwide for a donor to provide Mark with new stem cells which could cure him, but without success. Although an alternative treatment worked temporarily, two years later a relapse forced him to return to hospital. ‘This time the doctors said…

A New York police officer who was diagnosed with leukaemia which doctors believe was brought on by his efforts on September 11th was saved by a transatlantic stem cell donor who joined the donor register thirty years ago. Greg Holgerson, 42, was told his leukaemia could be linked to his involvement in the recovery efforts after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre. Greg was present at the site on the evening of the attack to secure the area and help with the recovery. ‘Everyone there was covered in dust and debris. It looked like it was snowing, it…

January 15 will always be a special day for marrow donor Ethan Krafft of Virginia and transplant recipient, Rich Little, an Oregon native. These two men from opposite sides of the country now share a blood type and full immune system, thanks to a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant. They met in person for the first time on Sunday, January 15, 2017 at the Gift of Life Steps for Life 5K Run and Walk of South Florida, before a crowd of 600 supporters. Not long ago, Rich didn’t think he had much time left, even though he was only…

Transplant gives normal life to child with rare immune disorder   Newborn twins A.J. and Emma Loscheider had only been home for a few days when mom Christena noticed something was wrong with A.J. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors worked for five months to diagnose his condition – Immune dysregulation, Polyendocrinopathy, Enteropathy, X-linked (IPEX) syndrome. This rare genetic condition, with only 150 known cases worldwide, results in multiple autoimmune disorders. A.J.’s best chance of a cure was through a bone marrow transplant to replace his immune system. Family members were disappointed when none of them were a…