A KIND-HEARTED student will donate life-saving stem cells after being inspired by his friend’s battle with leukaemia.
Lewis Arnold joined the stem cell donor register at a charity ball hosted by his fellow University of Worcester student, Samrick Singh Bahia, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in January 2013.
Samrick was given the distressing news about the condition in the second year of his business degree, the same year he met Lewis in the university’s rugby society.
Lewis said: “When Samrick was diagnosed it was really tough, but thankfully, after lots of treatment, he made a full recovery.”
Samrick then created the Singh4Samrick campaign which has raised thousands of pounds for Delete Blood Cancer and the Teenage Cancer Trust.
“Samrick has been such an inspiration, what he has achieved, in beating the leukaemia and establishing the charity, is just amazing,” added Lewis.
Lewis had put himself forward for donation last October and was called a few months later to say he was a match for a cancer sufferer. Delete Blood Cancer said there is a four per cent chance that a potential donor matches a patient within the next ten years after registering.
The 21-year-old added: “I guess I never really expected to be contacted again and to be found to be a match for someone, especially so quickly but when I got the call I was 100 per cent sure straight away that I wanted to go ahead with it. How can you turn down the chance to save someone’s life, for the sake of a week or so of discomfort for me?”
He underwent further testing and will now go on to donate the cells in September this year, just two months before he will graduate with a sports studies degree. Samrick will finish his course after Christmas having taken time off for his treatment.
About 70 per cent of patients with this condition who need a transplant do not have a suitable family member to rely on and so the donor register is their last hope of survival.
