A blood cancer survivor shared a touching encounter with the young stranger who provided her life-saving stem cell donation.
Alison Belsham, 57, from Newport, held back tears as she approached her donor, Rachel Rees, 31, and invited her in for a hug, telling her there would “never be enough words” to say thank you.
Ms Belsham was diagnosed with leukaemia for the second time in 2017, sparking a global search to find a bone marrow donor.
Doctors eventually found a compatible donor on the other side of the world in Australia, where Ms Rees, originally from Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, was living at the time.
Now, a video has been posted online revealing the couple’s emotional reunion, and it’s sure to send shivers down the spine of many.
Alison Belsham, 57 (left), met Rachel Rees, 31 (right), the woman who first saved her life.
Rachel was left in shock after flying from Australia to see her family who had organised the surprise visit.
Donor Rachel was found after a global search, but she lives just a couple of miles from Alison and now lives in Australia.
He shorten It shows Mrs Belsham expressing her gratitude to Mrs Rees, saying: ‘I now have the opportunity to live a full life, spend precious time with my children and watch my grandson grow up.’
Ms Rees flew home from Australia looking forward to visiting friends and loved ones in her hometown.
But unbeknownst to her, her family and the stem cell recipient arranged a surprise meeting for the two to meet.
The transplant Mrs Belsham received used healthy stem cells from a donor of Rachel’s to replace her own cancer cells. She has been cancer-free since then.
The women hope their story will encourage more people to sign up to the registry and help in the fight against blood cancer.
“My initial treatment consisted of five rounds of chemotherapy, which seemed to be successful,” Belsham said.
‘However, after a year and a half of remission, I received a phone call to tell me that my cancer had returned.
‘The news was absolutely devastating for me and my family because the future, once again, became uncertain.
‘My doctor explained to me how important it was to find a donor because a stem cell transplant was the last hope of saving my life.’
Around a quarter of a million people are living with blood cancer in the UK, with more than 40,000 diagnosed each year.
While some people can be successfully treated with chemotherapy and surgery, for other patients this treatment can destroy the body’s ability to produce new, healthy blood cells.
Alison and Rachel (centre) with their two families in Wales
In these cases, patients will need a stem cell transplant: special cells produced by the bone marrow that can develop into different types of cells.
Despite more than 40 million volunteers donating stem cells worldwide, three out of ten patients will not find a compatible donor.
“I’m so proud of her, proud of her recovery, proud of her tenacity and I’m so grateful that she decided to meet with me,” Ms Rees said.
“I’m so happy to see Alison happy and healthy. Our families getting to know each other has been very, very special.”
Christopher Harvey, head of the Welsh Marrow Donor Registry, said: ‘Blood cancer patients around the world face a daily, and increasingly urgent, search for a stem cell match.
‘The requirements for finding a donor match for a patient are very specific, but the chance of finding a life-saving match increases as more volunteers sign up.
‘If you are between 16 and 30 years old and are of Caucasian origin, or between 16 and 45 years old and are of Black, Asian, Mixed Race or Minority Ethnic origin, you could be the only person in the world who could be your partner.
“That’s why we’re urging more people to sign up to our Registry and help people like Alison in their time of greatest need.”
