Scott raised nearly £1,000 after his blood stem cell donation!

Congratulations to DKMS donor turned fundraiser, Scott Wallace, who completed the Belfast Half Marathon last Saturday and raised nearly £1000 just nine months after donating some of his blood stem cells. Scott shares his story below.

“One day in December 2017, I kept getting calls from a London number whilst I was in meetings and couldn't answer. Call number 7 caught me with enough spare seconds to answer the call and be utterly blown away by what the person on the other end of the phone was telling me - somewhere in the world, a stranger required a bone marrow transplant as part of their cancer treatment to save their life, and I was their initial match.

I had joined the register via DKMS about 5 years ago at a local sign-up event and honestly hadn't given it a second thought since then. Now my world was spinning around, my family & friends were amazed, naysayers screwed their face up and asked why you would put yourself through the operation, and I didn't know what to think. Immediate blood tests confirmed me as an ideal match and just before Christmas I had to fly to London for a series of medical tests to confirm I was fit and healthy to donate - I was poked, prodded, probed, weighed and x-rayed over the course of a rushed afternoon due to flight delays - and I passed.

So after a quiet Christmas at home I was back in London just after the New Year for the procedure. A general anesthetic later, 1.5 litres of prime marrow was being taken from my hips and whisked across the world to be immediately given to the recipient.

Last Saturday, just over 9 months after all that, I ran the Belfast City Half Marathon in aid of DKMS. I’ve raised nearly £1000 thus far and I won’t be stopping here! DKMS did a fabulous job, supporting me through everything. They enabled me to save the life of someone else and I wanted to return the favor.” Thank you Scott, for being a lifesaver in more ways than one.

If Scott's story has inspired you to sign up to the blood stem cell register - you can register now here.