Donor Story

Doctor's orders: Pria urges people to save the life of a stranger

Doctor Pria from Crawley is encouraging people to help save the life of someone with blood cancer. She initially registered with DKMS last year, when she was inspired by a message on social media.

17/05/2021

Diversifying the register

DKMS is committed to growing and diversifying our database. We operate in Germany, USA, Poland, Chile, India, South Africa and the UK. We believe that anyone anywhere should be able to find a donor.

DKMS blood stem cell donor Dr Pria Suchak recently donated her blood stem cells via PBSC method

Pria said: “My friend’s nephew had leukaemia, so she was using her Facebook page to encourage strangers to sign up him. Her nephew is of mixed heritage - half Chinese and half Caucasian. So she was trying to encourage more people for minority ethnic communities to sign up. I wanted to help give someone a second chance of life, so I signed up with DKMS, and my husband registered at the same time.”

Sadly, patients from black, Asian or other minority backgrounds have a 20% chance of finding the best possible blood stem cell match from an unrelated donor, compared to 69% for northern European backgrounds.

Speedy call-up

Pria ordered a home swab kit in 2020 and was contacted by DKMS just five months later, informing her that she was a potential match for a stranger in need of a lifesaving blood stem cell transplant.

The mum-of-two said: “I received a call from a lady at DKMS. She said I was extremely close to being a match, but there were also eight other people who were identified as possible matches too. A few weeks later, I received another call from DKMS saying that I was the best match out of the nine potential donors. I didn’t expect that. As it was nine of us in total, you never expect you'll be chosen.”

What is a PBSC donation?

Pria donated her blood stem cells by peripheral blood stem cell collection (PBSC). Around 90% of all donations are made through a method called peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection. This method is very similar to giving blood.

In the run-up to the procedure, donors are given a drug with the growth factor G-CSF to increase the number of stem cells in the blood.

Making time to donate

Pria said: “At the time I had so many things going on. We had just gotten past Christmas, both of my children had birthday’s in January, and I was about to sit a final GP exam. DKMS were excellent and did their best to schedule my G-CSF injections the day after I sat the exam. Of course, they checked that this wouldn’t impact the patient.

“My actual donation was really nice, especially as there were other donors in the room at the same time donating for other patients. We all got on really well and chatted loads. The clinicians told us that we were the chattiest group they had ever had. I’ve remained terrific friends with one of my fellow donors.”

Total stranger

Because of the minimum two-year anonymity period in the UK, donors can only contact the patient anonymously, by letter or email.

Pria said: “I don’t know anything about my patient other than she is a woman. She really is a stranger, but I hope my blood stem cells help her to live a long life.

Come on Crawley

Crawley has a population of around 114,000 with 14 neighbourhoods, the largest inland town in West Sussex. Yet, just 865 residents have registered with DKMS.

Pria said: “I strongly encourage people to register with DKMS, especially in my home town of Crawley. By donating their blood stem cells, not only will you potentially help a stranger in desperate need, but you'll also help their family and friends by giving them more time together.”

More donors needed

On 28 May, we celebrate our day of awareness, World Blood Cancer Day. This May, we’re aiming to register many new registrations by the end of month. Why not nominate family and friends to help us reach our target.

How you can help

We need blood stem cell donors from all backgrounds. If you are aged between 17-55 and in good general health, you can support the other 2,000 people in the UK in need of a lifesaving blood stem cell transplant by registering online at www.dkms.org.uk/register-now for your home swab kit.

More ways to help
You can support the DKMS in many ways and give new hope to many blood cancer patients.