Ahead of World Marrow Donor Day, blood stem Cell donors from Bangalore came forward and narrated their experience of saving the life of a blood cancer patient, and how life transforming the experience has been for them. They also requested others to join the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders by registering as potential stem cell donors and possibly help someone to live.
DKMS BMST Foundation India organized an event to mark World Marrow Donor Day which falls on the 3rd Saturday of September. To mark this day, DKMS BMST Foundation India felicitated the donors Arushit, Debraj, Daniel and Suresh who were lucky to have donated their blood stem cells recently and have become proud lifesavers.
“As per the World Marrow Donor Association, there are over 40 million donors registered across the globe. Only 0.5 million of these are from India. In India, there is a huge demand and supply gap in patients looking for stem cell transplant from a matching donor. Only 30 percent of the patients are able to get matching stem cells from their family members, the rest 70 percent of the patients are looking for a matching unrelated donor,” said Patrick Paul, CEO, DKMS BMST Foundation India.
Over 27500 people have already registered in Karnataka with DKMS-BMST donor stem cell registry and over 70000 all over India. The foundation has also facilitated 67 blood stem cell transplants in the last three years across India.
“It has been a truly marvelous experience of knowing that fact that I could save a life. The journey from getting the call from DKMS-BMST to the actual donation was very smooth. I was explained and guided each step of the way and all my queries very satisfactorily answered. Hopefully, I will meet the person I have helped,” said Arushit, a donor and a software engineer from Benagluru.
Sharing his experience Debraj, a techie from Bengaluru said: “I am elated at the fact that my stem cell donation was able to help someone live, and it motivates and inspires me to do more for others in life. Giving someone a second chance at life is a deeply satisfying feeling. I would like to also thank DKMS-BMST for a wonderful experience through the whole process. This is once in a life opportunity, not everyone can say that they have saved a life. Let us all come together in large numbers to register as stem cell donors and give hope of life to others.”
Dr. Sunil Bhat, Director & Clinical Lead, Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation, Narayana Health who was present there said India has a high burden of blood cancer and disorder patients. “Today, treating and managing blood cancer and blood disorders is possible with a stem cell transplant. Blood stem cell transplant is typically a procedure that replaces unhealthy bone marrow cells of the patient with healthy cells. Peripheral blood stem cells are collected from the donor via a similar process to blood platelet donation,” he said.
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