Niamh’s selfless act for a stranger
Niamh encourages more young people to register as stem cell donors.
Niamh, a 23-year-old from Northern Ireland, recently donated her stem cells through DKMS to give a complete stranger a second chance at life. Niamh's decision to register as a stem cell donor was driven by a personal connection to the cause.
She recalls: "I first signed up to be a donor with DKMS in 2021 because of a campaign in my local community, “Do it for Daniel”, to help find a donor for a young boy in my area.”
“I first got the call in January this year saying that I had been a match for someone! I started the process of confirming I was a match and found out in March that I was chosen to be the donor for this patient and I was overjoyed to be able to help someone.”
Support from all sides
Throughout the process, Niamh received strong support from both DKMS and her workplace. She explains, "My managers and colleagues at National Museums NI were so supportive and happy to accommodate any time I needed to donate and recover, and their support made the process that much easier.
“The team and DKMS were so supportive and especially as I had to travel over to England to donate, all the travel coordination was done smoothly by the team, so myself, and my mum who travelled with me didn’t have to worry at all!”
A positive donation experience
"I am very thankful to say I had never been in a hospital for myself before donating, so this was my first real experience with going through things such as blood tests and even experiencing being a patient. The team in my hospital went above and beyond to make this as comfortable of an experience as possible. They were so friendly and calming, and couldn’t do enough for my mum and me,” says Niamh.
Niamh donated via Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Collection (PBSC), which is used in about 90% of donations. She shares: "The donation itself was really so simple... I brought some headphones and had a comfy seat to relax on, I even napped on both days of my donation! People hear about stem cell donation and are initially apprehensive about the process, but if you have donated blood before, it’s quite similar.
"It is a couple of days of being mildly uncomfortable to be able to help someone who has already been through so much, and certainly is a worthwhile experience. I hope in the future I can help someone else again through DKMS.”
Niamh concludes: "As a young person in good health, we should be grateful for the opportunity to help someone who needs it.”
