"I am just an ordinary guy who got an opportunity to do something extra-ordinary!”
Manoj, a 28-year-old happy-go-lucky person registered with DKMS-BMST in 2017. He donated his blood stem cells in March 2020. Here, Manoj tells us about his donor journey:
“It was a regular day at my work and while coming back after lunch I saw a poster by DKMS-BMST about how you can register as a blood stem cell donor and save lives of blood cancer patients. It struck a chord with me and I went ahead to enquire more about it and thankfully DKMS-BMST had organized a registration drive at my office. I was unaware that blood stem cell donation could save the life of people living with blood cancer.
When I realized that we just have to give swab samples to register and might come up as a match for a patient who needs blood stem cells, I quickly made up my mind and signed up for the cause! My mother is a cancer survivor and I know what a patient and their family go through during this time, so it was one more reason for me to register.
The call for me to donate actually came…
The donation day
I was joyful on the day of donation and was a bit anxious if I would be able to donate enough stem cell as required for the patient. I started to get a little nervous about it but thought someone is in dire need of my stem cells and I was left with no doubt that I had to donate. My blood stem cells were taken through the PBSC method, I was attached to a machine that drew the blood out of one arm, filtered and collected the stem cells, and returned the rest of my blood back into my other arm. The whole process took around 4 hours. I was so impressed with the support DKMS-BMST gave me, in these very unusual times they made the process as calm and smooth as possible.
I think everybody who is eligible should register so people with blood cancer don’t have to go through these frantic searches to find their match.”
How you can help:
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are calling on more people to take the first step and register for a home swab kit.
Anyone aged between 18-50 years and in general good health can go on standby as a potential lifesaver. If you're not eligible or you're already registered, check out some of the other ways to get involved in the fight against blood cancer or blood.
