Unstoppable Testimonies

Hello! My name is Hugo and I am unstoppable against leukaemia. My mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and then so was I in 2020. They say that misfortunes come together… Now we are both well, we have finished the treatment. We are unstoppable.

My head exploded when I was told I had leukaemia. Too many emotions, I didn’t know what to focus on. And then I asked the doctor: Can I be cured? His response was unequivocal: Yes. And I wanted to be even more unequivocal: THEN I’M GOING TO BE CURED.

And here we are.

And I would do it again. Once, twice, three times and as many times as it takes. In theory, I was going to need a transplant. Did you know that only 1 in 4 patients in need of a transplant have a compatible family member? The remaining 75% need an anonymous donor.

The Josep Carreras Leukaemia Foundation is responsible for managing the Bone Marrow Donor Registry (REDMO) in Spain. They search for your compatible donor, locate them and manage all the necessary steps from the collection until the donor stem cells reach the patient. You can see how the whole process works in this video: https://youtu.be/HA05AqoJNgE

So far I haven’t needed a transplant and I hope to keep it that way, but just in case, I had my own cells extracted, in case I have a relapse, I can have an autologous transplant. So I went through the donation process as any other donor.

And I have to tell you, it’s not scary at all.

They stick a needle in one arm, they extract some blood and run it through a machine that separates the stem cells, and the blood is returned to your body through the other arm. It’s really simple! And in doing so, you save lives. Well, not me, because I can’t be a donor, otherwise I would be.

Many thanks to all the donors who are part of REDMO and who are waiting for a call to help save a life.

And to you, my friend who gave me a chocolate bar, I send you strength. I always go out with your little note in my pocket. It’s my lucky charm.

We are Unstoppable!