Unstoppable Testimonies

Three years ago I was unemployed. I had more time to reflect and I realised that there were many more ways to contribute to the society I live in. I decided to become a blood and bone marrow donor. 

In November 2019, I got a call telling me that I was one of the possible candidates for a donation. 

After several tests, which were simple from the donor’s perspective, I was informed in mid-February that I was the best match. For me and my closest relatives, it was a great joy to know that this gesture could save a life. 

The donation was planned for April, obviously not knowing that there was a virus on the other side of the world that would eventually turn into a pandemic…

It had to be postponed until 2 June (phase 1 of the de-escalation). The Josep Carreras Foundation did everything possible so that my father could be with me during the donation and was able to obtain the necessary authorisations so that he could fly from Seville to Barcelona in the middle of these lockdown measures. 

Although I was completely determined to donate, I asked the doctor in charge of my procedure about the risks involved in donating bone marrow amidst the presence of the virus in order to take the necessary precautions. He explained to me that there was no risk as the extraction would be a small amount and by means of a lumbar puncture as the recipient was a small child. 

I signed up as a donor to help anyone in need, but in this case, knowing that I would be helping a child, the donation became a moral obligation for me. 

I was told that lumbar punctures are no longer normally performed for donations except in very isolated cases. This one went wonderfully, I was awake in just two hours and feeling great. For me, there was no recovery at all, as in the days and months that followed I felt just as well as I did before the donation. 

A couple of weeks ago I contacted the Foundation to find out whether the donation was successful or not. I was told that, after the transfusion, the patient was gaining strength and recovering. It was, without a doubt, the best news of 2020, a before and after for me. 

I feel so fortunate to have been able to contribute so much with so little. I am enormously grateful for the good fortune of having been in the hands of the Foundation’s team of great medical professionals and mediators. 

To the little one: although we don’t know each other, I hope you can enjoy life to the fullest and that you can continue to be what you are to everyone, a hero.