Indian Army man donates blood stem cells to save blood cancer patient

A blood stem cell transplant is often the only treatment option for patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders like Thalassemia and Aplastic AnemiaOnly about 30 per cent of the patients in need of a stem cell transplant as lifesaving treatment can find a sibling match The rest 70 per cent depend on finding a matching unrelated donor This makes it vital for people to register as potential blood stem cell donorsIn 2019 Sandipan a doting father a loving husband and passionate army personnel registered as a blood stem cell donor with DKMS BMST Foundation India a nonprofit organization working with a mission of providing a second chance at life to blood cancer patients He registered at a donor registration drive organized by the foundation during his military training and came up as a match for a patient in 2020Sandipan hails from the Latur district of Maharashtra India When amidst the corona pandemic everyone is concerned about their near ones Sandipan took the blood stem cell donation as his duty He showed his commitment and travelled from Latur to Bengaluru to donate his blood stem cellsPatrick Paul CEO DKMSBMST said Because of the travel restrictions the main challenge was how to bring the donor and his family from their hometown to Bengaluru Sandipans posting was at a remote location at the border of India so we had to ensure we obtained all the necessary permissions from the Indian Army for him to donate his blood stem cellsSpeaking about his experience Sandipan said When I received the call that I have come as a match for a patient I was overwhelmed Without a second thought I agreed to donate my blood stem cells to the patient in need Sandipan donated his blood stem cells through the PBSC peripheral blood stem cell method a process similar to blood platelet donation Peripheral blood stem cell collection is a safe and nonsurgical outpatient procedure During the PBSC only stem cells are extracted from the donors blood blood is taken from one of the arms passed through a machine that separates the blood stem cells and then the rest of the blood is returned through the other armThe global pandemic impacted the process of blood stem cell donation right from the donor registration drives to the delivery of blood stem cells to the transplant center Once Sandipan donated his blood stem cell the challenge was to transport the stem cells from Bangalore to the patient in Germany India had just opened up limited international passenger air travel We decided to transport the stem cells with the crew of Lufthansa airlines The stem cells were delivered to the patients Transplant center in Germany in a hasslefree manner added PatrickThe Lufthansa pilot took responsibility for the stem cells which were transported in the cockpit of the planeGiven the current pandemic the health and wellbeing of the donors is the utmost priority of DKMSBMST When entering the collection center and before any donation screening for the COVID19 virus risks is carried out These measures serve to protect the donor as well as the recipient and the employees in the collection centers Health experts have confirmed in an important finding that there is no evidence that the COVID19 virus can be transmitted via blood bone marrow or stem cell productsKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever