17-year-old Chirag, a thalassemia survivor from India, finally met the man who gave him a second chance at life – his stem cell donor, Roman Simnizki from Germany. Chirag battled thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that significantly impacts patients’ quality of life. For almost ten years, the family searched for an unrelated donor, until 2016 when they came across Roman, a 29-year-old from Münsingen, Germany, through the DKMS database, who was a perfect match.
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Roman, who travelled to India to meet Chirag echoed the sentiment. “There’s no greater joy than knowing you’ve helped someone in need. Seeing Chirag healthy and full of life is the biggest reward.”
According to the release, Chirag, now free from the limitations of thalassemia, can dream of a bright future. Chirag’s parents, who witnessed their son’s struggle and eventual recovery, expressed their heartfelt appreciation to Roman for his selfless act.
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Chirag’s treating physician, Dr. Revathi Raj, Paediatric Haematologist, at Apollo Hospitals Chennai, said, “Beta-thalassemia major is a severe form of the disease that requires regular blood transfusions and, potentially, a stem cell transplant for a cure. I am happy that today Chirag is recovered and a bright future awaits him.”
In a stem cell transplantation, healthy blood stem cells from a matching donor are infused into the patient to help resume healthy blood production.
Talking about the DKMS-BMST Thalassemia program, Patrick Paul, CEO of DKMS-BMST,said, “ Under this program, DKMS-BMST collaborates with local NGOs and transplantation clinics to organise camps where pediatric thalassemia patients and their families travel from far places, sometimes from very remote places in India, to give buccal swab samples for HLA typing. Samples from the camps are analysed in the DKMS laboratory based out of Germany and clinical matching reports of the same are provided.”
If you’re eligible, register as a blood stem cell donor by ordering your home swab kit at www.dkms-bmst.org/register