Roodepoort journalist shares experience registering to become a stem cell donor

Most of the residents in Roodepoort have come across the non-profit DKMS at one stage or another, recently the non-profit has been prominent in the community due to the dedication and awareness campaigned by two-year-old Maddy’s parents in their fight to help cure their daughter of blood and bone marrow cancer.

DKMS is a non-profit that aims at ‘deleting blood cancer’ by finding stem cell donors for those in the community fighting a battle with blood cancer. Roodepoort Record journalist Wayden Michaels registered with the database and shared his experience with the Record to encourage others to register.

“Stem cell donations have always been at the back of my mind. I am an avid giver, but when I learnt I could not donate blood due to issues with my body mass index, I have since discovered an alternative way of saving a life – through the DKMS stem cell donor process for which I had seen an ad. I registered, and passed the health check, and thought it would be perfect to undergo this process,” Wayden explained.

• Also read: Residents come together to help little Maddy (2)

After registering on the DKMS website, you will receive a package from the non-profit containing a swab kit, an envelope, and another courier bag to drop into after your collection is complete.

The kit includes a step-by-step tutorial to ensure you understand exactly what you are supposed to do. First, open the swab kit, which contains three cotton swabs. Use one swab for your left cheek, rubbing it in a circular motion for one minute, then set it down and pick up the next one, doing the same for your right cheek. Finally, with the second swab down and the third swab picked up, repeat the process on the inside of your upper and lower lips, as well as the left and right cheeks, for one minute. Allow the swabs to dry for about two minutes before placing them in the swab envelope.

You may discard the plastic container in which the cotton swabs were packaged. Insert the swab envelope into the provided white envelope, then the courier company packaging.

DKMS will make arrangements with the courier provider to collect the kit from the delivery address within two to four business days.

The test swab kit should take no more than 15 minutes to complete and can be done at home, work, or even in a car.

What comes next? Your information will be collected in eight to ten days, and the swabs will be transported to DKM’s Life Science Lab in Germany to be processed. Within six to eight weeks of collection, you will receive an SMS and an email verifying that you are an active donor.

Donors will be listed on the registry until they reach the age of 61.