A teacher who became the 2,000th stem cell donor for a blood cancer charity has revealed how she feels “very fortunate and lucky” to give someone a second chance at life.
Amy Pringle, 28, from Glasgow, found out about donating stem cells when staff at her school were giving blood.
After finding out she was not eligible to give blood, she was told she could donate her stem cells instead.
“I knew about blood cancer but I knew absolutely nothing about stem cell donation,” Ms Pringle said.
“I joined the stem cell register as I was unable to give blood, however I was able to join the register to donate stem cells.
“I signed up as reading through the information online, it felt like there were no reasons not to be registered, and following my donation I still feel the same.”
Blood cancer charity DKMS says someone in the UK is diagnosed with the disease every 20 minutes and the current stem cell register does not currently meet demand, with registrations down 50% compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
Only one third of patients will find a matching donor within their family, meaning two thirds have to rely on being matched with a stranger.
Ms Pringle travelled to The London Clinic in the UK capital for the procedure last week after she was matched with a patient.
There is a one in 800 chance of being matched with a transplant patient.
“I feel very fortunate and lucky to be able to donate for someone and give them another chance to survive,” Ms Pringle said.
She also said it had been an “emotional time”.
For a healthy donor, it’s really a very small thing to donate, just a few hours of their time, but for the recipient of the donation, it’s giving them a whole new life.— Amy Pringle
“I’ve also been thinking about what the patient is going through at the other end of this.
“I hope that my donation works for them, and I hope they successfully recover from their illness and are able to live their life again.
“I hope that one person donating and telling their story can encourage others to do the same, and hopefully more and more people will join the register and be matched.”
The teacher said she would have “no questions” about going through the process again.
“Everyone at DKMS and the staff at the clinic have made the process so easy from start to finish and they have kept me informed at all times, they have gone out of their way to help me and made everything effortless,” she said.
Ms Pringle said the process of donating was “extremely easy” and had no major side effects from the treatment after donating through the peripheral blood method which involved giving blood from one arm and receiving it back in the other after cells had been separated.
“The staff at the hospital were amazing and explained everything that was happening and were so attentive throughout, it really was a painless and simple process.
“I’d have no questions about going through the process again.
“For a healthy donor, it’s really a very small thing to donate, just a few hours of their time – but for the recipient of the donation, it’s giving them a whole new life.”
Those wishing to sign up as stem cell donors can visit the website https://www.dkms.org.uk/register-now.
