Cape Town - All it takes is 20 minutes to register to save someone’s life when you become a bone marrow donor.
Every year thousands of South Africans are diagnosed with leukaemia and other life-threatening blood disorders and for many of them their only hope is a life-saving blood cell stem transplant.
In celebrating World Marrow Donor Day at the weekend, the Sunflower Fund has encouraged the public to register as donors.
Donor Lenatha Scheepers, 25, said she had successfully donated bone marrow this year.
“I registered as a donor during 2013 when a blood drive was done at the Neelsie in Stellenbosch and the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) was also there. I asked for more information and decided to register.
“During last year I received a call to confirm I was a 30% match for a donor recipient, I was asked if I would like to continue the process and I said yes. After going through various stages of testing, I was confirmed a 100% match for the recipient,” Scheepers said.
She said she would do it all over again if she could save a life.
“You’re only ever allowed to donate once unless the recipient will need more stem cells but after the stem cell transplant that I was a donor for, I heard it was successful and the recipient didn’t need another infusion.
“However, if I could I would do it again if it meant that not only will it give life to one person, but it will keep a family together for longer.
The few hours of discomfort during the harvesting was a small sacrifice knowing just what it would be doing for the recipient. It was a really emotional experience for me,” she said.
“Knowing that I was the one person in a 100 000 chance match is truly amazing.”
Bone marrow recipient Jonathan Sendzul said he found a donor match from an Israeli database last year.
“I was diagnosed with a blood disorder during June 2015 and my only hope was a stem cell transplant.
“All I know is the donor was a woman of Polish descent and was a match,” Sendzul said.
For more information on how to become a donor visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za or call 0800 121 082.