Young Newbridge man gives total stranger a second chance at life

Shéa Stinson, 22, is from Newbridge outside Magherafelt.

He loves to travel and is an HR Officer in the heating industry.

He joined the stem cell register with blood cancer charity, DKMS when he was 20, through an initiative at his work that helped staff to sign up, and potentially save a life in future.

Two years passed, and he hadn’t expected to hear anything more, so it was a shock when he received an email at the end of November to say that a patient was undergoing treatment, and he was their stem cell match. So much so that he initially assumed it wasn’t real.

“When I saw the email come through, I totally assumed it was spam, so I just deleted it. Then I got a follow-up message from DKMS asking if I had seen the email, which was when I realised it was real,” said Shéa.

“I’d almost forgotten about the whole thing. It’s actually nice to know that I was able to forget about it, but all this time, every time a patient has been in need of a donor, there have been people in the background checking to see if I’m the match that they needed”.

For patients with blood cancer or other blood disorders, a stem cell transplant from a matching donor could be their only opportunity for a second chance, but just 7% of the eligible population in the UK are signed up to the register.

Shéa had been matched with a very ill patient, who was in desperate need of a stem cell transplant to give them a second chance at life. He was the match that they had been searching for, and DKMS were getting in touch to ask if he’d be willing to donate his cells.

Within a few weeks, he had completed initial medical assessments, and flights were booked so he could travel to London to donate. Before the donation procedure, he needed to do a few days of self-injections to make sure he had enough stem cells to donate. For Shea, these injections started on Christmas Day.

“It wasn’t a massive deal, I’ll get many more Christmases, so it was okay for it to be a little bit different this year. We had the family round, and we were all chatting about the donation over Christmas dinner. I stayed away from the drinks, so I just headed away to complete my injection,” continued Shéa. 

A few days after Christmas, he flew to London with his sister Dervla, so that he could complete the donation. He donated stem cells through a process called PBSC, which is a simple, outpatient procedure similar to donating blood platelets.

“The donation itself was really easy, as long as you’re mentally prepared for it, there’s nothing to worry about. I even fell asleep for a bit while it was happening. My sister was able to come over to support me, but I ended up sending her away for most of it, I actually think she was loving it, she got to go out shopping in central London,” he said. 

After his donation, Shéa was able to receive a bit more information about the person who had received his stem cells. Immediately after his donation in London, his cells were put on a plane across the Atlantic, where the patient, an adult man in the USA, was waiting. There are strict rules protecting the anonymity of the patient for two years after donation, but eventually Shéa and his recipient may be able to contact each other, if they wish to.

“It’s wrecking me that I can’t just pick up the phone and give him a ring,” said Shéa.

“I’d love to be able to chat to him and hear how it went. I just hope he’s doing okay, and maybe I’ll get to hear from him down the line.”

DKMS spokesperson Bronagh Hughes said: “Shéa has done something absolutely amazing. Right now, only 60% of patients find a match on the register, and so signing up means that, like Shéa, you could be the person to give someone a second chance - and potentially even save a life. People in Northern Ireland are more likely to be on the DKMS register than anywhere else in the UK, but we still need as many people signed up as possible, so that every patient has the best possible odds. Joining the stem cell register is really easy; it just involves a few cheek swabs and a few health questions. You can order a kit from the DKMS website.”

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Now, Shéa is teaming up with DKMS to encourage more people to join the stem cell donor registry.

He added: “I’d 100% recommend signing up. People think it’s going to be a long and difficult process, but DKMS sorted the tests, injections, flights, hotels and everything. All I had to do was turn up.”

Anyone aged 17-55 and in general good health can sign up with a few simple mouth swabs. To find out more and order your swab kit, visit dkms.org.uk.

 Things you didn’t know about blood cancer:

1. Blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK
2. Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK
3. At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant