After a perfect match for their daughter’s stem cell transplant declined to follow through with the lifesaving procedure, Lydia’s family witnessed a true miracle when a new, second match appeared on the registry not too long after.
South Africa (17 September 2026) – At just four months old, little Lydia was faced with an obstacle so much bigger than some will ever encounter in a lifetime. An aggressive leukaemia diagnosis sent her and her family down a difficult path of hospital visits, glimmers of hope, and heartbreaking disappointments.
“The first few months with Lydia were pretty normal, but I remember being pretty worried about her, and it was difficult to tell why, but she was a little pale,” says her mom, Estelle.
A visit to the GP led to a round of blood tests just as a precaution. However, they soon revealed leukaemia, and their doctor advised seeing an oncologist.
“It was really tough. It was especially difficult because she couldn’t tell me what hurt or what was wrong. She just cried a lot.”
At the first appointment, the oncologist confirmed Lydia would need a blood stem cell transplant to survive, leaving them greatly dependent on a possible match on the registry.
When a matching donor was found, Lydia’s parents, Theo and Estelle, were hopeful and prepared for the process and procedure rigorously, emotionally and practically.
“I remember the hospital phoning me, saying they want to postpone the infusion by a week because they were a little worried about this donor,” Estelle recalls.
Sadly, that donor later declined to go ahead with the transplant. Yet again, Lydia’s family was left waiting and hoping that another match would be found in time.
“It was devastating. As you spend time with other people in the hospital that also need bone marrow transplants, you realise that finding a perfect match is not a definite outcome. Knowing that a lot of people wait for years and years and knowing that Lydia didn’t have that much time was scary,” both parents said.
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That donor was Petro. Thanks to her, Lydia received her transplant; the procedure was a success, and today she is a happy, energetic little girl with a second chance at life.
The family expressed its gratitude to DKMS Africa for handling everything with care and attention to detail. Theo and Estelle were told they could contact Petro, so they wrote a letter accompanied by a thank-you gift for the donor who rewrote their story from one of despair to one of joy and restored hope.
“We, by God’s grace, were able to have a good story, and we really wanted to share that with the donor. We haven’t had the opportunity to meet face to face yet, but meeting online and seeing her love for Lydia and knowing that there’s a person out there who loves Lydia probably as much as we do is really precious. The way that Petro ended up being Lydia’s donor was not a normal story. It was really God’s hand in the process. It was a miracle,” they said.
Healthy, loud and extroverted, Lydia is a typical four-year-old who talks non-stop, and her parents wouldn’t have it any other way!
One registered stem cell donor can make an extraordinary difference to a family in their hour of need. Visit the DKMS website to register as a stem cell donor and give someone else hope of finding their match.
Sources: DKMS Africa
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