When A Bone Marrow Donor Met His 4-Year-Old Recipient For The First Time – NDTV
By daniellenierenberg
Before he knew Anuroop, Vihaan (right) addressed him as the Superhero.
Vihaan is a bright and active 4-year-old boy. He is a thalassemia survivor. And just over a year ago, he desperately needed a bone marrow transplant.
Anuroop, is a young man from Kerala. He doesn't know Vihaan's family. He just felt that donating bone marrow for someone in need was the right thing to do after he got a call from Datri, a non-profit agency coordinating such donations.
Anuroop told NDTV, "Actually, it was a matter of choice. I got a call from Datri about one year ago and they discussed with me this matter. They said, 'A 4 year old child, he is suffering from Thalassemia. Maybe only you can save him.' But at that point, I was not sure that I would do it. But later, with the support of my family and people from Datri, I decided to do it."
Anuroop and Vihaan came face to face - on camera - for the first time ever on NDTV. Anuroop was clearly emotional as he saw images of an active Vihaan, flanked by his parents, grinning and waving at the screen. Bhavana, Vihaan's mother was emotional too as she set eyes for the first time on Anuroop, who has given the family life and hope.
She told NDTV, "He is the answer to all our prayers. When Vihaan was diagnosed when he was 6 months old, we didn't know how Vihaan is going to be. We didn't know what to do. And then we went to Dr Sunil Bhatt and we registered with Datri. They told us that the procedure of finding a match is very difficult. And then we found a donor so we just couldn't believe that we were blessed to find a donor. Those were anxious days. But yeah, glad now."
Asked how her son was doing, Bhavana said, "Young Vihaan is doing great, thanks to Dr Sunil, thanks to Anuroop and thanks to God's grace. Vihaan is doing well."
Looking at the screen in front of her which showed, Anuroop, Dr Bhatta and Gayathri Shenoy of Datri, she told her son '"Just say hi, Vihaan!" He did, with a cheery wave.
Anuroop was moved by the response. He said, "I'm super excited - I waited for too long. I waited for one year. From that day of donation, the whole family, he was always in my prayers. I'm super excited now. That's all."
Finding a matching donor in a case like this is a very difficult task. Vihaan's doctor, Dr Sunil Bhatt, is HoD, Paediatric Haematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre in Bengaluru. And this professional medical man admitted to the deep emotions he feels at such times when a donor meets a recipient. "It gives me goosebumps," he told NDTV.
"You do so many times, again and again, but every time when an unrelated donor meets a patient - it is always an emotional moment for all of us," he said.
"Vihaan was diagnosed with a disease called Thalassemia at six months of age. What happens in this disease is that they don't make their own blood. So they have to be given blood transfusions from outside every few weeks to sustain life and that is life-long. But what blood does is it brings its own complications along with it and many of those and unfortunately most of these children do not live more than second or third decade of life. So the only cure for this is bone marrow transplantation and as we all know for Bone Marrow Transplantation we need someone to donate for them. There has to be a healthy donor who can donate," he said.
To find a matching donor is far from easy. Dr Bhatt said, "Sometimes you'll find that in the families - the chances of that being 25-30 per cent. But 70 per cent of the patients who require transplants will not have anyone in their families to donate for them. So here comes the role of unrelated donor transplantations that means someone else in the same country, in the world who matches the patient. And the chances of that being one in 20,000 to one in a million. So it depends on what ethnic background you're from - South Indian is going to match South Indian, North Indian going to match North Indian - chances will be higher in your own ethnic community. And hence the registries play a huge role because they enrol these unrelated healthy donors, put them on their database and when patients like Vihaan require such transplantation we approach these registries and ask them if there is any donor in the registry who is matching our patient. If there is one, that person is requested to donate and they donate stem cells to save someone's life."
Datri helped coordinate this life saving procedure with its all-important database. Gayathri Shenoy, Head-Patient Relations of Datri told NDTV, "I represent Datri which is India's largest blood stem cell registry. We are 10 years old and we have about 4.4 lakh registered donors and 712 donations of that. But as you can imagine that is a very small number compared to the population of our country because there are so many patients who have blood cancer who are waiting for their Anuroop to show up."
Asked if it had been physically difficult to donate bone marrow, Anuroop said, "Physically not that hard - like I need some rest but it is not that hard. Anyone can do it anytime if they find a match. I didn't find it very difficult and all. I heard some cases like people will be hesitant to do something like this - but I didn't find anything that should people hesitate. It is an easy process and you would be given a general anaesthesia. You won't be knowing anything."
Bhavana said, We just wanted to say that everyday in our prayers all of these people have been there. We didn't know the donor - so he was just addressed as the Superhero Donor, because it was very difficult to make Vihaan understand. Dr. Sunil, Datri - I don't know what we would have done if it was not for Datri. So just feeling blessed.
Here is the original post:
When A Bone Marrow Donor Met His 4-Year-Old Recipient For The First Time - NDTV
- Rejuvenating the immune system by depleting certain stem cells - National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov) - April 19th, 2024
- New gene therapy eliminates need for bone marrow transplant. Here's how it works. - CBS News - April 19th, 2024
- New gene therapy eliminates need for bone marrow transplant. Here's how it works. - MSN - April 19th, 2024
- Long Island boy with rare blood disorder undergoes gene therapy - MSN - April 19th, 2024
- Philadelphia Wings player, Connecticut man will be forever bonded by bone marrow donation: "He's my hero" - CBS Philly - April 10th, 2024
- VRD versus VCD as induction therapy before autologous stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma: a nationwide ... - Nature.com - April 10th, 2024
- Register as a bone marrow donor today and save lives - The Citizen - April 10th, 2024
- Resilient anatomy and local plasticity of naive and stress haematopoiesis - Nature.com - March 26th, 2024
- A Deeper Depth of Response After Salvage Therapy Improves Outcomes of Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in ... - Cureus - March 26th, 2024
- Iron restriction keeps blood stem cells young, researchers find - Phys.org - March 18th, 2024
- Blood drive, bone marrow testing to be held in local woman's memory - The Winchester Star - March 18th, 2024
- Signal of Benefit for Stem Cell Therapy in Progressive MS - Medscape - March 10th, 2024
- Woman, 22, With Leukemia Recalls Symptoms And New Treatment She Received: EXCLUSIVE - TODAY - March 10th, 2024
- This Swedish startup wants to reduce the cost, and controversy, around stem cell production - TechCrunch - March 10th, 2024
- Outcomes and prognosis of haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with FLT3-ITD mutated ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Harmonizing definitions for hematopoietic recovery, graft rejection, graft failure, poor graft function, and donor ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- Hematopoietic cell transplantation and cell therapy activity landscape survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; a report ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- How an MS friendship led to HSCT and a love of running - Multiple Sclerosis News Today - March 10th, 2024
- Iron Limitation Preserves Youthfulness of Blood Stem Cells - Mirage News - March 10th, 2024
- Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis: A retrospective analysis of the ... - Nature.com - March 10th, 2024
- AJMC in the Press, February 23, 2024 - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network - February 24th, 2024
- Orca Bio Presents Promising Data on Orca-T in Two Oral Presentations at the 2024 Tandem Meetings of ASTCT and ... - Yahoo Finance - February 24th, 2024
- New approaches to live-track the production of different types of blood cells in mice - Medical Xpress - February 24th, 2024
- If Other Treatments Aren't Working -- Stem Cell Transplant May Be A Good Option In CLL - SurvivorNet - February 24th, 2024
- Expanding the Horizons of Cell and Gene Therapy - RegMedNet - February 24th, 2024
- The strangers who saved each others lives - BBC - February 24th, 2024
- City of Hope Research Featuring the Successful Treatment of the Oldest Patient to Achieve Remission for Leukemia ... - StreetInsider.com - February 15th, 2024
- 3D printing and material processing combined to create artificial bone - Optics.org - February 15th, 2024
- Man, 63, is in remission from HIV five years after receiving groundbreaking stem cell transplant... - The Sun - February 15th, 2024
- Team demonstrates fabrication method to construct 3D structures that mimic bone microstructure - Phys.org - February 15th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Their Role in Development and Disease Therapy - The Scientist - February 15th, 2024
- Blood cell family trees trace how production changes with aging - MIT News - February 7th, 2024
- New study on promising stem cell-based therapy for Crohn's disease - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Second haploidentical bone marrow transplantation with antithymocyte antibody-containing conditioning regimen for ... - Nature.com - January 30th, 2024
- Stem cell study shows how gene activity modulates the amount of immune cell production in mice - Medical Xpress - January 30th, 2024
- Global Stem Cell Therapy Industry Outlook to 2028, Driven by Therapeutic Innovations and Clinical Advancements ... - Yahoo Finance - January 30th, 2024
- 1st-of-its-kind therapy blocks immune attack after stem-cell transplant - Livescience.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Individualized dose of anti-thymocyte globulin based on weight and pre-transplantation lymphocyte counts in pediatric ... - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- Implications of stress-induced gene expression for hematopoietic stem cell aging studies - Nature.com - January 22nd, 2024
- LVHN announces opening of new stem cell transplant center. Here's what that means for the Lehigh Valley - The Morning Call - January 22nd, 2024
- Fast Five Quiz: Chronic GVHD Risk Factors and Prevention - Medscape Reference - January 22nd, 2024
- Could Treatments for HIV and Sickle Cell Open the Gene Therapy Floodgates? - BioSpace - January 22nd, 2024
- Effects of fine particulate matter on bone marrow-conserved hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells: a systematic ... - Nature.com - January 14th, 2024
- Donating Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: The Process and What To Expect - On Cancer - Memorial Sloan Kettering - January 14th, 2024
- No, Rep. Steve Scalise Didn't Vote Against Stem Cell Research From Which He Is Now Benefiting - Yahoo News - January 14th, 2024
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Market to Grow Rapidly During the Study Period (2019-2032), Evaluates ... - PR Newswire - January 14th, 2024
- Life-saving donation from Philly athlete saves life: 'Feeling so strong, I owe that all to him' - AOL - January 14th, 2024
- The Key to Creating Blood Stem Cells May Lie in Your Own Blood - ScienceAlert - January 14th, 2024
- Dr Phillips on the Rationale for the GLOBRYTE Trial in Relapsed/Refractory MCL - OncLive - January 14th, 2024
- COVID-19 and HSCT Recipients: Risk Factors and Prevention Measures - Medriva - January 14th, 2024
- Bone Marrow Transplant: Heres What You Need To Know About This Therapy - Times Now - January 5th, 2024
- New insights about the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Drug Target Review - December 28th, 2023
- Bone Marrow Transplantation | Johns Hopkins Medicine - December 20th, 2023
- Stem Cell or Bone Marrow Transplant | American Cancer Society - December 20th, 2023
- Embryonic-stem-cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells relieve experimental contact urticaria by regulating the functions ... - Nature.com - December 20th, 2023
- Researchers discover crucial step in creating blood stem cells - Phys.org - December 20th, 2023
- A niche topic: understanding the development of hematopoietic stem cells - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center - December 20th, 2023
- Vertex developed a CRISPR cure. Its already on the hunt for something better. - MIT Technology Review - December 20th, 2023
- FDA approves cure for sickle cell disease, the first treatment to use gene-editing tool CRISPR - NBC News - December 12th, 2023
- First therapy using CRISPR technology will treat sickle cell disease - Morning Brew - December 12th, 2023
- 7 medical breakthroughs that gave us hope in 2023 - National Geographic - December 12th, 2023
- Understanding Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment - Everyday Health - December 12th, 2023
- Mansour bin Zayed witnesses inauguration of ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant & Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 - ZAWYA - November 26th, 2023
- ADSCC Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Congress 2023 to take place in Abu Dhabi - ZAWYA - November 18th, 2023
- Orchard Therapeutics Reports First Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Announces Initiation of Rolling Submission for Biologics License Application of... - May 16th, 2023
- Family of 7-month-old in need of bone marrow transplant hosting donor registration event - CBS Pittsburgh - May 8th, 2023
- Anika Continues to Expand Addressable Market for Tactoset Injectable Bone Substitute with Additional 510(k) Clearance from FDA - Marketscreener.com - April 5th, 2023
- MorphoSys Completes Enrollment of Phase 3 MANIFEST-2 Study of Pelabresib in Myelofibrosis with Topline Results Expected by End of 2023 -... - April 5th, 2023
- VOR BIOPHARMA INC. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 25th, 2023
- BioRestorative Therapies to Seek FDA Approval to Expand the Clinical Application of BRTX-100 - Marketscreener.com - March 17th, 2023
- BioSenic delivers a new post-hoc analysis of its Phase III JTA-004 trial on knee osteo-arthritis with positive action on the most severely affected... - March 17th, 2023
- JASPER THERAPEUTICS, INC. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 9th, 2023
- For a range of unmet medical needs, India offers a fantastic opportunity to push cell and gene therapies: B .. - ETHealthWorld - March 9th, 2023
- NGM BIOPHARMACEUTICALS INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com - March 1st, 2023
- Bone health: Tips to keep your bones healthy - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone marrow drive held for military wife with cancer - January 27th, 2023
- Bone cancer - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - January 27th, 2023
- Bone | Definition, Anatomy, & Composition | Britannica - January 19th, 2023
- Bone Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster - January 19th, 2023
- What Is Bone? | NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National ... - January 19th, 2023