Stem Cell
Photo Credit: DKMS - Donor Hero Siphosethu

When Siphosethu got her call from DKMS confirming she was a stem cell match for a blood cancer patient, she felt excited to help save a life!

 

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Cape Town, South Africa (05 September 2023) – 21-year-old Siphosethu, currently busy with her Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Film & Media and African Studies, attended an educational workshop where she learned about stem cell donations. She decided to register and before long, got the call that she had matched with a blood cancer patient and could save a life.

“I didn’t think I would actually get the call so I felt a little overwhelmed, but excited that I could help save someone’s life. Life is precious so this was a pivotal moment for me. When the moment to do something this life-changing presents itself, you have to seize it!”

For Siphosethu, in the lead-up to the donation, she shared that she felt really supported by her family, friends and the team at DKMS Africa. The actual donation only took a few hours and she didn’t have any negative side effects.

“Registering to be a donor was very easy and knowing I got to save someone’s life is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life. Whenever I was scared, I asked myself, “What if it were one of your family members in need of help?” and that kept me going because I would hope someone else would be willing to do what they can to save them.”

Since sharing her inspiring story, 379 new people have registered with DKMS.

How to register

DKMS has registered over 10.5 million donors globally and facilitated more than 91,000 transplants; this means 91,000 second chances of life for patients suffering from a life-threatening blood disorder.

Having more donors improves the chances that a patient will be able to find their match. Getting more people to register means correcting longstanding misconceptions about what it means to be a bone marrow donor. Being a donor is not as painful, invasive or permanent as many people believe.

If you are between the ages of 18 – 55 and in general good health, request a swab kit at dkms-africa.org. It starts with a swab, and it ends with saving a life!

There are other ways to support blood cancer and blood disorder patients if you are not eligible to donate blood stem cells. You can help DKMS Africa spread awareness, host donor drives, contribute financially and order and distribute swab kits to your network. You can find out more here.

The Facts

A South African is diagnosed with blood cancer or a blood disorder every 72 minutes.

Patients of African descent only have a 30% chance of finding a matching blood stem cell donor while white patients have a 79% chance. This is because of the ethnic underrepresentation on the global stem cell registry. We can change this by getting more people registered as blood stem cell donors.

Matches are not based on blood type but rather on your HLA characteristic (DNA). This means that a blood cancer patient’s match is most likely to come from someone in the same ethnic group which is why representation matters.

Becoming a donor starts by registering on the DKMS Africa website. A swab kit will be couriered to you and collected for free. Once your swab has been typed in their lab, you will be listed as an active donor on the global stem cell registry.

If you are found to be a match, their medical team will contact you directly via your listed contact number. The chances of being a match are 1 in 100 000 and you’ll only ever donate up to two times for the same patient.

The donation is done via the Peripheral Stem Cell Method which means there’s no surgery involved and it’s similar to donating blood or platelets.

All costs related to the donation process are taken care of by DKMS Africa. You will not be asked to pay for anything.


Sources: DKMS
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About the Author

Tyler Leigh Vivier is a writer for Good Things Guy.

Her passion is to spread good news across South Africa with a big focus on environmental issues, animal welfare and social upliftment. Outside of Good Things Guy, she is an avid reader and lover of tea.

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