“I joined the Tobias Registry at the end of the summer. I did not know much about the Tobias Registry at the time, but I found it by chance one day. It was in the middle of the pandemic, I felt helpless with everything happening around the world – I wanted to help people, I wanted to make a difference, however small.
About a year later I got an email, “The Tobias Registry is looking for you”; I had a potential match and now they needed blood samples from me. I am afraid of needles, I have always been afraid of needles and I don’t know if I will ever get over my fear of needles, but there was not a part of me that hesitated because of that. This was so much bigger than my fear of needles. We did the blood tests and then I did not hear anything for a while.
After a few months, I had a missed call and a new message, it was from the Tobias Registry: “…The tests showed that you are a suitable stem cell donor for the patient…”. OF COURSE TAKE MY STEM CELLS was my first thought, of course I will do it. This is about a life, a person who could potentially have the chance for a long and healthy life with their loved ones, and all they needed was my stem cells. “Take them” was all I could think. I’m just fine without them.
Then came the day of the donation and it is a day that I will never forget, because it was the day when I really understood the meaning of what I was doing, how big this was, how something that I did not give a second thought to could mean everything to another person. That the little thing I am doing here could potentially save someone else’s child, sibling, mother, father or grandparent, someone’s everything in life – HOW INCREDIBLE IS THAT?
To the nice person out there in the world who gets my stem cells: I hope with all my heart that you will recover. I hope with all my heart that you will live a long and healthy life with your loved ones. I hope with all my heart that you will experience everything you want in this life. You will always be in my thoughts and I send all my love and strength to you. I hope with all my heart.”
– Winta
