In the UK, the Anthony Nolan Trust and the NHS do not facilitate contact until two years have passed after the transplant. I don't know the reasons for this, but I presume it is to allow things to progress to a suitable outcome. Some countries do not allow donor contact ever - seems draconian to me, but perhaps there are good reasons for them to be so strict.
Well, last February was the second anniversary of my transplant, so I filled out the forms to initiate contact. I really wanted to thank the person who donated and find out more about him - who he is, where he lives, what he does for a living and what inspired him to become a donor.
I received his details in March - an email address and a postal address. So, more information was finally coming through! Originally, all I knew is that he is a young German man in his twenties. Now I found out he lived in north-west Germany. I needed to know more, so I procrastinated a little and eventually sent him an email in April introducing myself. This began an incredible exchange of emails where we got to know more about each other.
Eventually we agreed it would be nice to meet, and we chose the west of Ireland in August. We love to go there on our holidays and I couldn't think of a nicer place to meet my new brother and introduce him to my family.
I was very nervous the day we first met him and his lovely wife. I was worried about him driving across ireland by rental car, I was worried he wouldn't find his B&B in a remote part of Ireland and I was worried about how I would react when I met him. I am delighted to say that our initial meeting was a very happy moment. I gave him and his wife a big hug and thanked him for saving my life. It was an intense, but wonderful moment. In fact, all my family crowded in and gave big hugs! It was a special time for all of us.
That began a wonderful few days spent on the west coast, switching between visiting spectactular scenic places and discussing our experiences of both sides of the transplant (as a transplant recipient and also as a donor). It was especialy interesting to hear how he went about donating his stems cells and what he went through. It wasn't very straightforward for Mathis, as he had to inject himself with hormones for a week before travelling to Cologne to have the stem cells extracted. It was all worthwhile and I will be forever grateful - Mathias is happy that he saved my life and I am also happy that he saved it!
This pic was taken at the Cliffs of Moher.......
