Unstoppable Testimonies

My name is Julián, I am from Huelva and I am 39 years old.

From an early age, I had an interest in and a predisposition towards donations, whether blood or organs.

The reason, although it may sound a bit strange, is that I have always thought that what I have enough of myself, others can enjoy and I can help someone else.

So, as soon as I turned 18, I became a blood and organ donor, but not a bone marrow donor, because, back then, there was not as much information as there is now. Yet it was also a goal of mine, as my mother always told me the story of a childhood friend, Magdalena, who died of leukaemia.

Thanks to the donation centre of the Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital in Huelva, I received all the information and assistance regarding bone marrow donation and I did not hesitate to take the step of becoming a donor.

It was some years later when I received a call from Isa, and I call her by her first name because we became almost friends, even if it was only over the phone.

Isa informed me that there was a possible recipient match and if I wanted to undergo confirmatory tests to see if I was a match. I didn’t even hesitate. Yes!

After all the tests were carried out in Seville, back in July last year, my compatibility was confirmed and we arranged a date for the donation.

I can still vividly remember the day I had to start with the injectable drugs. It was the 9th of September, but just the day before, Isa called me and told me that the donation could not be carried out because the patient was unwell due to having suffered a relapse.

I felt bad, although I guess not as bad as the patient…it was all so close….

But that’s the way it is, I could only hope and wish for his recovery. Barely a month went by and I got another call from Isa: “Julian, do you want to resume the donation? All the tests have to be done again”. I replied “Of course I do! That is what we are here for.” And so we did it all over again, with the excitement of a child.

From then on, everything went smoothly: the care provided by the Josep Carreras Foundation, the Virgen del Rocío Hospital, the doctors and nurses was magnificent.

The 4th of December 2017 arrived (a day I will never forget), the day on which I did my bit to fight against the disease.

It was an inexplicable day. I still can’t put into words how I felt, why I did it.

For all those who do not know about the donation process, I can only tell you that it is not at all painful, at least for me, and that, if it were, the feeling you get when you do it would make you do it all over again as many times as necessary.

This is my experience, which I wish everyone could share, because we never know when we might need it, and that together we will BEAT leukaemia. We can all do our bit: DONATE BONE MARROW, DONATE LIFE.