It was an emotional moment on Tuesday for Debojyoti, a 26-year-old software professional from Bengaluru, when he met four-year-old Shia from Kolkata, recipient of his blood stem cells.

Mr. Debojyoti, who came to the rescue of the little girl by donating his stem cells, met her for the first time at a meeting organised by a non-profit organisation, DKMS-BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry in the city.

Thanks to the donation, Shia daughter of primary school teacher Saifulla Kobir and homemaker Sajida Kobir has been cured of thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder. When this family residing in Kolkata found that their daughter was suffering from thalassemia, they researched about the treatments available. Sharing his experience Mr. Kobir said: Due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure we were turned down by the local doctors. When we were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated.

We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr. Revathi Raj in Chennai and she assured us that there is a treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant. That is when our journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began, said an emotional Mr. Kobir.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year, and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation in Chennai.

Mr. Debojyoti said, I registered myself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration I was found to be a match. As per protocols, the identity of the donor and recipient are kept anonymous for two years, and thereafter they can be introduced to each other.

Latha Jagannathan, director of DKMS-BMST, said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive. Unfortunately, a majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor. Their registry currently has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

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Four-year-old girl meets stem cell donor for the first time in Bengaluru - The Hindu