Gift to stranger giving ‘second chance at life’
A Rostrevor man has taken a potentially life-saving step by donating his stem cells to a total stranger, giving that person a second chance at life.
Motorsports fan Kai McNally, aged 22, works at a pharmaceutical factory in Newry, and he joined the stem cell register with DKMS as a teenager.
He closely followed the ‘Do It for Daniel’ campaign that had tried to find a stem cell donor match for Newry teenager, Daniel Greer, who sadly died of acute myeloid leukaemia last year.
He went to school with Daniel’s brother, so he gladly signed up to see if he could help. A few years had passed since he joined the stem cell register, but he finally received a call from DKMS a few months ago.
They were reaching out to tell him that he had been identified as a stem cell donor match for a critically-ill patient, who was in desperate need of a transplant. As their match, he could give this person a second chance at life.
Kai explained: “Daniel’s campaign had been a big thing locally, so I knew what was being asked of me as soon as I got the call.
“I said that I was happy to go ahead with the donation, and a nurse came round to the house to take a blood sample to confirm I was a good enough match. It was just a week later that it was all confirmed, and I heard I was able to go ahead.”
A few weeks later, Kai travelled to London for the procedure. He donated his stem cells through a process called PBSC, which is a simple, outpatient method, similar to donating blood platelets.
“It was all pretty simple in the end,” said Kai. “Everything went smoothly enough. Once I got settled in, it was easy going; the full donation was done in one day.”
Shortly after the donation, Kai was able to find out more about the patient who had received his cells. Doctors revealed that his stem cells had been immediately transferred to the airport and, within 24 hours, they were on the other side of the world, where a patient in New Zealand was waiting to begin his transplant.
Kai said: “It was a real surprise to hear just how far the cells had gone. I hope he’s doing well after his transplant, and it would be great to hear eventually how he’s getting on.”
For details of joining the register, see dkms.org.uk