BENGALURU: A techie from Bengaluru, who is also a stem cell donor to a blood cancer survivor from Punjab, met the recipient for the first time in the city on Thursday. Coincidentally, both have the same name, Mandeep Singh.
Mandeep (35), a farmer, is a blood cancer survivor from Punjab who was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in 2009. He was advised to undergo a stem cell transplant. Sharing his ordeal, he said, “I struggled to find a matching donor in my family for 10 years. It was only in 2019 when an unrelated donor was identified by DKMS BMST Foundation India that my surgery became possible in January 2020.”
As per international guidelines, the identity of both the blood stem cell donor and the recipient should be kept anonymous for a period of two years and thereafter depending on their wish they can meet. Mandeep (39), the donor, said his wife is also a cancer patient and hence he could understand the family’s pain. He said he registered at a stem cell donation drive organised at his office in 2018. He was always eager to meet the recipient, he shared.
On World Cancer Day, the DKMS-BMST Foundation organised a meeting of the donor and the recipient to create awareness about stem cell donation in India. Patrick Paul, CEO of the Foundation, said since cancer is a major cause of death, it is important to create awareness about the treatment of blood cancer, which is curable through stem cell donation, he added.