DKMS registration: Why we participate

Saving lives isn't really part of everyday life as a developer. Our colleague Patrick however did make this incredible experience ten years ago: Thanks to his stem cell donation, a then one-year-old boy survived! According to DKMS, blood cancer is the most frequent cause of cancer-related deaths among children. Worldwide, approximately every 27 seconds a person receives the diagnosis. DKMS wants to give as many people as possible access to a life-saving donation. For that, they are dependent on voluntary stem cell donors.

Patrick, who had registered in 2012, was contacted as a potential match by DKMS in 2013. This is how the story went for him:

• Health check to confirm the match and to ensure his own safety during the procedure
• Bone marrow collection via surgery: collection of stem cells from the bone marrow under general anesthesia (in 90% of cases, however, stem cells are collected directly from the bloodstream in an outpatient clinic without surgery. – the method depends on the case)
• Blood stem cell transplantation to the patient

The procedure was absolutely unproblematic and Patrick was quickly fit again. After a year, he was able to inquire about the course of the transplantation, and a little later, DKMS even establishes contact between donor and recipient if both parties so desire.

Patrick made use of this offer and learned that his donation saved the life of a one-year-old boy with bone cancer in Athens. Today, he is still in loose contact with the family – once they even met in Greece. The boy is now 10 years old.

This story is simply too beautiful not to share – and it also shows how significant something as small as a registration via cheek swab can be in the end.

What has all this got to do with AOE?

We at AOE have been supporting DKMS for years by regularly organizing registration campaigns for our employees – and covering the costs for a registration. In this way, we want to make registration as a stem cell donor as low a threshold as possible and also raise awareness of blood cancer. Registration is a painless and uncomplicated process done by just a cheek swab. More than 50 employees have now registered, and many colleagues have already done so.

How to become a donor