A life-saving transplant procedure for Sam Schmidt to donate some of his blood stem cells to help save a patient’s life has gone well.
The 24-year-old accounts manager from Limehouse was finally found to be a compatible match for a patient in a worldwide search after registering with a stem cell charity a year ago.
He underwent the procedure at The London Clinic before the weekend to donate stem cells after being successfully matched with a blood cancer patient.
He felt strange being tested due to Covid-19 with everyone having to wear masks and gloves, but felt “lucky to have the chance potentially to save someone’s life and help a family”.
Sam registered with the DKMS charity, known as We Delete Blood Cancer, when he moved to Narrow Street in Limehouse last year from west London.
He was inspired after learning about 42-year-old Peter McCleave, a father of two in Cheshire diagnosed with blood cell cancer and given a few years to live.
Peter has launched his own search for donors with his “10,000 people” campaign while still waiting for a match. He has attracted potential donors to register with the DKMS Foundation, but so far has found no match to save his own life.
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