DATRI brings unrelated blood stem cell donors and recipients together

~ Sharing the magical experience of giving someone the gift of life!
Ludhiana, April 11, 2017: DATRI, India's largest adult unrelated Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry, today organized a very special event to celebrate the blood stem cell donor Mahesh Kumar Nagdev, a 40 year old entrepreneur from Dubai, who saved life of Gauri Madaan, 8 years girl from Zirakpur, Punjab.

Gauri was diagnosed with Thalassemia Major when she was just 21/2 months old baby and she needed regular blood transfusions till she could find a life-saving blood stem cell donor.

In 2013, Mahesh a young businessman from Dubai registered with DATRI during an awareness session conducted by a hospital in Dubai. Within a year of registering he received a call from the NGO informing him that he was a perfect match for a child with a serious blood disorder.

“I was very happy to hear that I was a potential match for someone. The fact that my little effort could save a life felt like I was the chosen one, I had no questions but to happily go ahead,” says a beaming Mahesh.

As per the registry protocol, the identity of donors and recipients are kept anonymous for one year. Both the recipient and donor expressed their desire to meet each other. So, when the doctors declared Gauri completely cured, DATRI facilitated the meeting between the two and their families.

The event also celebrated the selfless act of 22 year old Donor from Ludhiana. Samyak Jain saved the life of 9 year old Sahil Kargaonkar suffering from Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome. While Samyak registered to help a family member, but was later found to be a perfect match for a young boy from Maharashtra.

Sharing the experience, Samyak Jain said. “Initially I was a bit apprehensive but when I heard that my donation will save the life of a 7 year old boy, it was a very satisfying feeling.”

Speaking on the occasion Dr Joseph John, Professor & Head, Clinical Haematology, CMC, “We have a huge number of patients suffering from fatal blood disorders like Blood cancer and Thalassemia Major among others for which the last resort is Blood Stem Cell transplant. For patients who could not find a match within their family there was no hope, it is only with help of registries like DATRI that we have a ray of hope for such patients.”

He further added, “Till date I have referred a number of patients to DATRI for a match and we have been successful in gifting life to a few of them. We are still have a huge number of patients who are hoping to find a match that could save their life.”

It is appalling to know that only 2000 donors are registered with DATRI as potential blood stem cell donors from Punjab, a state with 27.98 million population. These numbers are very less compared to other cities in the country. This definitely calls for more awareness in the city, about the importance of saving lives through blood stem cell donation for blood cancer patients.

“Such an occasion is an additional motivation to work harder and make the registry grow. The joy that a recipient’s family receives and the satisfaction a donor expresses is in itself a testimony of hope. As a registry, we are immensely motivated to spread the awareness on the significance of becoming a blood stem cell donor so that, many more lives can be saved,” says Raghu Rajagopal, Co-Founder & CEO of DATRI.

The event was to celebrate and acknowledge a selfless act, to come forward and donate blood stem cells to a complete stranger is in itself a priceless form of giving. This is a special occasion to celebrate the ‘selfless giver’ and the ‘courageous spirit’ of the recipient who waded through all adversities. For a patient suffering from fatal blood disorders like blood cancer, a blood stem cell transplant is the only hope of life. The probability of finding a matched blood stem cell donor is 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 2 Million. Every match is close to a miracle. If a match is found, that donor is probably the only person who can save the patient.