KOCHI: A 29-year-old software developer from Kannur donated his blood stem cells to save the life of a youth from Bangladesh suffering from blood cancer. He urgently needed a stem cell transplant to survive. Kishore Dev, the donor, met the 22-year-old patient and survivor Atanu Kishor from Bangladesh for the first time at the Tata Medical Centre (TMC) in Kolkata where the stem cell transplant was conducted.
DKMS BMST Foundation India, a Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and rare blood diseases, in a release here said it helped find Atanu a matching stem cell donor from Kerala from the registry of over 60,000 potential donors that it maintains in India.
Atanu had a difficult teenage life after he was diagnosed with blood cancer and had to undergo several rounds of chemotherapy. Atanu’s family was advised by doctors to take him to India for treatment. The family, with the patient, travelled to India and consulted Dr Reghu K S, senior consultant, Department of Paediatric Haemato Oncology & Cellular Therapies, at Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata.
As per international guidelines, the identity of both the blood stem cell donor and recipient are kept anonymous for two years. After this, depending on their interest, they are introduced to each other. Kishor said he registered as a potential donor in 2017. “After a year of registration, I was found to be a match for a blood cancer patient. When I met Atanu for the first time, I went numb with emotions. Being able to save the life of someone is a feeling beyond words,” he said.