A young woman named Justine from Germany has saved the life of an unrelated Canadian named Justin with a stem cell donation.
Justine, 26, from Bassum, in the German state of Lower Saxony, had registered as a bone marrow donor at her school 11 years ago and donated stem cells in 2017.
Little did she know that nearly a decade later, she would be a match with Justin, 23, from Ontario, in Canada, who was suffering from blood cancer.
Her stem cells were then obtained and used, and this has now saved Justin’s life, according to German media.
After a two-year anonymity period, Justin agreed to be contacted as Justine wanted to know whose life she had saved.
After speaking online, she flew to Canada with her boyfriend Christian in June this year to meet Justin.
Justine said: “I was already excited before the first meeting, even though I am generally a person who is not easily anxious. My friend Christian was there – that helped.”
Justin was waiting for Justine, a communications manager, at the airport, with Justine saying: “We walked past each other at the terminal because we were so nervous.”
Justin’s father Jim even talked about fate because our names are so similar.
Jim said: “I don’t know how to thank someone who saved my child.”
Now Justin is to travel to Germany to see his saviour’s homeland.
Justine said: “Helping can be so easy and registering is definitely worth it. Stem cell donors are urgently needed, and at the end of the day, you are faced with a person who would otherwise die.
“Justin and many other blood cancer patients want a future. As healthy people, we can give people a chance at life.”
Justine urged people to register as donors. She said that for her registering as a stem cell donor is “no big deal” and is almost something she considers mandatory.
She had registered with the Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei, abbreviated as DKMS, an international nonprofit bone marrow donor centre that is based in Tuebingen, Germany, with branches in Chile, India, Poland, South Africa, the UK and the USA.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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