Mum donates stem cells to help boy with cancer

Ms Uddin was told she was a match for the poorly child

A woman from Leicester has donated stem cells to try to save the life of a boy in Germany who has cancer.

Kam Uddin found out she was a match for poorly child through the donor register of blood cancer charity DKMS.

Cells were taken from her in March, which the charity hopes will help boost the boy's immune system after chemotherapy treatment.

The 39-year-old mother-of-two has spoken about her experience in the hope it will help address a shortage of donors from the Asian community.

Mrs Uddin said three of her relatives had been diagnosed with cancer since December

"I'd actually signed up to register in 2019 after there was an appeal in Leicester to try to find a donor for a poorly five-year-old girl," Mrs Uddin said.

"But then I pretty much forgot that I had.

"In November I was amazed to get a letter telling me I was a match.

"You don't get many details about your match and I only know it's a boy in Germany.

"I've sent him a card telling him I hope I can help him. I've called him Little P, for patient and he calls me Big D, for donor.

"I genuinely feel privileged to be in a position where I can actually help someone."

'Second chance'

Mrs Uddin said she hoped to persuade other Asian people to join the register after three of her close family were diagnosed with cancer between December and March.

"While I was sitting giving my donation, I had a lot of time to think," she said.

“There can be taboos within the Asian community about organ and tissue donation.

"It’s a subject we don’t always want to talk about, but I have seen first-hand how people close to me have become very poorly.

“I thought I would do what I can to put information about joining the stem cell register out there.”

DKMS spokesperson Mahima Mathur said Mrs Uddin had given her match "a second chance at life".

She said: "If you are found to be a match for someone needing a transplant, then in nine out of ten cases donating your stem cells is a simple process similar to giving blood."

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