Two stem cell donors compare notes

Let's go back.

So you got that first call and you sort of done your health questionnaire.

They said you're a match.

One thing to clarify is while you are a potential donor at that point, you are a match for a patient.

So each patient may only have eight or 10 people in the entire world who are genetically matched with them.

So you're already on a very unique list at that point.

So talk us through the testing and stuff in the lead up to donations.

Obviously, first of all, you went and got a blood sample and then perhaps needed to wait a little while.

Hunter, how long did you wait between sort of that initial blood test and finding out you were the main donor?

Yeah, I was trying to reflect on this whilst I was thinking about this session.

I think it was something in the order of a month or two where I was Went in, gave the extra bloods because it was part of my normal donation.

So they took some extra blood samples out so that they could test the match.

And then, yeah, it was sort of sitting and waiting probably for that month or two months, I reckon, whilst the doctors and the medical teams were working out if it was the right fit for the patient.

And how about you, Mitch? You'd been waiting 20 years by that point, so a couple of extra months wouldn't have been much, right?

Yeah, it was a similar experience to Hunter.

I think it was five or six weeks.

You just go in and do the questionnaire.

You meet with some fancy doctors who all have big names and then you wait and they call you and say you're either the perfect match or the best match or you're not.

And in my case, I was.

So the process was really, really quick.

So Mitch, you alluded to, obviously, once you got the call, you had to speak to the wife.

Well, yeah, for sure.

Like it was kind of a joint decision.

Yeah.

Her blessings is what I wanted.