NHS makes plea for 130 'life-saving' donors in Greater Manchester
Granada Reports journalist Tim Scott met two men who're calling on more people to become stem cell donors
A man from Stockport who was a life-saving donor for a pensioner from Preston has told how the pair became good friends and they have now joined forces to launch a stem cell recruitment drive for the NHS.
Frank Goodman, 77, a retired lorry driver from Preston, received a stem cell transplant at the Manchester Royal Infirmary eight years ago, to treat Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
He was told that without treatment, he would have a life expectancy of around six months.
He said: “Stem cell donation isn’t something that’s very well-known but it is something extremely important for those of us who have needed one or will need one – and for our families, too.
"It’s emotional knowing that but for the generosity of a stranger, I wouldn’t be here today and I wouldn’t be able to see my children and grandchildren grow up.
"I’m one of the lucky ones who had a match on the register, but not everyone gets that chance.
“I really do encourage as many people as possible to sign up to the register – you never know whose life you might save. It turns out my donor lives just down the road, in Stockport, so I have a Greater Mancunian to thank for my life – if you register, somebody else might, too.”
It was Peter Lewis, 32, a dad of one from Stockport, who donated his stem cells to Frank in 2016.
He added: “I first learnt about stem cell donation at a regular blood donation appointment and I signed up straight away. It was only six months later – which I believe is very quickly – that I got the call to say I was a match for someone.
“Donating was so simple, not much different to giving blood. I was amazed at just how easy it was for me, when for my recipient, it’s life-changing. But it wasn’t until I received that first contact from Frank, some years later, that it really hit home just how much of a difference those few hours I’d spent donating had made.
“Knowing that I’d given him more time with his family – including his young grandchildren - was just incredible. And knowing that he was just down the road made it even more real. We’ve kept in touch all of these years and Frank is a good friend now – we’re bonded in a way that’s quite indescribable.
“I’d wholeheartedly recommend that everybody who can, joins the stem cell register – signing up is easy and if you are a match for somebody, you can quite literally save or change their life, through such a simple donation process. There really is nothing quite like it.”
The NHS needs 130 people in Greater Manchester alone to register as life-saving stem cell donors each month.
For more information, go here or call 0300 123 23 23. And you can also ask at your next blood donation appointment.
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