A man in his 30s has given his stem cells twice in the space of a decade to help save the lives of two people, becoming one of just 0.7% of donors to do so.
Brad Green, from Sheffield, was inspired to sign the Anthony Nolan register at the age of 20 after a school friend’s dad was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Just weeks later he received a call telling him he was a match for someone on the transplant list.
Mr Green, now 31, told the PA news agency: “I was at college about two weeks after joining and the phone rang – I understood it was rare, but certainly didn’t expect a call within two weeks.”
Now a father-of-one, Mr Green delayed his 21st birthday celebrations to make the donation.
He added: “I just remember thinking, ‘God, how easy was that?’
“Obviously at that time, because it’s anonymous and because you don’t really see the impact it’s having first hand, you’re sitting there thinking, ‘well, I’ve done my bit, now I can go home’.
“But actually at that point, it’s that patient’s start of his journey to recovery.”
Paul Hague, the father of Mr Green’s friend, died from his disease at the age of 49.
But after exchanging anonymous letters with the patient who received his stem cells – a man called John Herries – Mr Green went on to meet him and his family and kept in touch by email.
Earlier this year, he received another call from Anthony Nolan telling him he was a match for second person.
Mr Green told PA: “A few years passed by – I’m talking a few years, it’s got to be nearly a decade – and I’m at work, I get a phone call again, and when they said that you need to donate again, I assumed it was for the same person.
“But they were like, no it’s somebody completely different.
“It blew my mind a little bit to be picked the first time, especially after two weeks.
“But then the second time I was definitely a bit confused, because I thought, ‘Oh, God, is it John again? Does he need it again?’
“Funnily enough, the nurse that was there for my first donation was there for the second 10 years later, and she’d been retired along the way and come back.”
Mr Green’s second donation was anonymous. He added: “There’s no hope of meeting that person.
“I did let John know about donating again, and he was chuffed to hear that. He was sort of saying ‘genetic triplets’, if you like.
“But it’s at that point when I spoke to Anthony Nolan, where they said it’s really rare to donate twice to two different people, and I didn’t know that.”
Mr Herries, 59, was diagnosed with an aggressive type of blood cancer in December 2012 and underwent 18 continuous cycles of chemotherapy which did not work before genetic tests showed his disease was chemo resistant.
He had a clear scan 18 months later after responding well to an immunomodulatory drug and radiotherapy, which meant he could risk a stem cell transplant.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution beach lifeguard from north Devon had the transplant in August 2015.
“I’m still alive, had no serious problems with the transplant and recovery, and Brad even passed on antibodies for some of the vaccines which I’m unable to have,” Mr Herries said.
“It was a real pleasure to meet Brad and his parents once enough time had passed for us to be able to meet.
“We’re genetic twins so it was interesting to see if we looked the same. We didn’t. We keep in touch and he told me that he was going to donate again. He’s such a star.”
Donors in the UK can only give stem cells twice to two different patients, although Mr Green said if he could do it a third time he would.
“I don’t know whether I got lucky, but for me, it was just so easy for what you’re actually getting in return, which is potentially giving somebody a load more years of life with family and friends,” he said.
“I can’t do it a third time, but I would do it three, four, five times over if it was possible.”
