David received a call out of the blue to say he was the best possible match for a patient in desperate need of a lifesaving transplant. David joined the register thirteen years ago, and had come up as a potential match a couple of times, but never gone on to donate. David says, ‘when I found out I was the best match in the world for the patient, I was over the moon.’
After careful discussion with Anthony Nolan to ensure he knew what to expect, the donation date was booked and David received a short course of injections to encourage his body to release the blood stem cells needed for bone marrow donation. ‘I wasn’t looking forward to the injections of GCSF as I’m scared of needles, but sitting and chatting with the nurse was actually good therapy’, David adds.
David donated via PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell collection), a process similar to giving blood. 90% of bone marrow donations take place using this method. ‘It was actually over far quicker than I was expecting’, David explains, ‘I watched TV, listened to music and played games on my phone.’
He felt tired the next day, but David was more concerned with the wellbeing of the man he had potentially saved. ‘Now I’m just desperate to know how the patient’s doing. I know he’s an adult male, but that’s all really. I should get an update this month, which will tell me how he’s progressing after the transplant’, David adds.
David wants to share his experiences to encourage more donors to step forward and become potential lifesavers: ‘it was so simple. You imagine it’s a complicated thing but when you find out the reality it’s just incredible. One day out of your life could give someone else the rest of theirs.’
To join the Anthony Nolan register, you need to be between the ages of 16–30 and in good health. All potential donors stay on the register until the age of 60 and may be called to donate at any point during this time. Anthony Nolan particularly needs young men to join the register as they are most likely to be chosen to donate, but make up just 12% of the register.