In 2008, Chloe from Scotland, who was aged eight at the time, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. The following year she received a blood stem cell donation. Five months after her transplant, the doctors said that Chloe was in remission and she has now fully recovered. At the time of the donation, neither Chloe nor her parents, Pauline and Craig, knew who her lifesaving blood stem cell donor was. All they knew was that he was a man. They yearned to know.
In 2008, Chloe from Scotland, who was aged eight at the time, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. The following year she received a blood stem cell donation.
Five months after her transplant, the doctors said that Chloe was in remission and she has now fully recovered.
At the time of the donation, neither Chloe nor her parents, Pauline and Craig, knew who her lifesaving blood stem cell donor was. All they knew was that he was a man.
They yearned to know.
Roland, the German man is his forties who was her tissue-type match and who donated his blood stem cells to her, saving her life, also wandered who it was he had saved.Not allowed to know each others name and addresses for two years, Roland and Chloe and her family were only able to send each other anonymous notes through DMKS for two years after her treatment.
The first was a Christmas card from Roland wishing Chloe and her family a very happy Christmas which they quickly replied to.
Then, after two years of anonymous contact, Chloe’s family were told that they could now get in touch with their donor. They were told his name and where he was from and that he would be happy to get to know the person who he had made the donation to.
Chloe’s dad Craig then made contact with Roland through Facebook and there was regular contact between Roland and the Jarvis family.
Then, finally in February 2013, they all met at the launch of DKMS in the UK and Chloe was able to thank her donor for the first time in person.
It was very emotional for Roland, Chloe and her family and there was an instant bond. As Craig said: "Even though we had only just met, it felt as if we’d known Roland for a lifetime."
Now, Craig refers to Roland as his brother and Chloe as her twin.
Of the meeting, Roland himself said:
When I met Chloe, I was overwhelmed by my feelings. I’d waited for that moment since the day of my donation. Now I feel like I have found a second family in the UK, and the Jarvis family have found one in Germany. We have a bond for life.