The only hope of life for Dr Nick Embleton, suffering from a rare type of blood cancer, was a bone marrow transplant.
Not finding a compatible donor in the United Kingdom, the search spread throughout the world.
And it was thanks to a donation that was anonymous at the time that the British doctor was able to save his life.
What he didn’t know then was that by receiving those stem cells he may have also saved the life of his donor, Marius Wener, a young German who found a purpose for living at a time when he was having suicidal thoughts.
Two years later, BBC News and the Anthony Nolan charity helped these two “blood brothers” to meet for the first time.
“I could die”
For more than two decades, Nick has worked in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Newcastle, North East England, helping to save thousands of babies newly brought into this world.
But in 2021, it was he who needed a doctor.
Nick said he “had no idea what was about to happen” as he walked through the hospital hallways.
Although he acknowledges that “I was fully aware that I could die, so I wrote my will.”
One of the most difficult moments was when he had to break the news “to my wife and my children.”
“I felt sadder for my children: I didn’t want them to grow up the rest of their lives without their father,” she said.
The transplant replaces damaged blood cells with healthy ones, but The body automatically rejects them unless they are compatible.
Charlotte Hughes, from the Anthony Nolan charity, explains: “We searched the UK registry first and hope to find a compatible donor here.
“If we don’t get it, Anthony Nolan looks around the world,” he adds.
“A compatibility can come from anywhere.”
“Very overwhelmed”
Due to confidentiality and protocol rules, both the patient and the donor must remain anonymous until it is known that the transplant worked.
After two years and already knowing that it had worked, Nick He contacted the BBC to try to locate his donor.
That was when they contacted Anthony Nolan to join the search.
Together they managed to identify 24-year-old Marius in the town of Chemniz, near Dresden, who had registered on the donor register towards the end of his adolescence.
Marius agreed to fly to the UK to meet Nick at Newcastle’s Maggie Cancer Support Centre, Freeman Hospital, where the transplant took place.
When the two men saw each other, they hugged each other.
“I’m overwhelmed, I’m shaking,” Marius said.
“You are welcome”
Nick said that the “cancer cells have disappeared” and told Marius that when they analyze his blood, “all those cancer cells belong to you.”
“I would be dead if it weren’t for you,” he thanked him.
“I have four children, they wouldn’t have a father. Thank you”.
Without words, Marius only managed to say very excitedly: “You’re welcome.”
Nick couldn’t hold back the tears that ran down his face, whispering again: “Thank you very much.”
Mental problems
Marius remembers when he found out that the transplant had worked and that the patient had survived.
“After that information the only thing that came out of me were tears,” he admits.
“I was on my way to work and I had to park the car, go outside and get some fresh air. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
Marius also revealed that he had attempted suicide before and how, in a way, Nick had saved him too.
“I have struggled my entire life since I was 13 with mental problems,” he said.
“It has been difficult for me to find my path and my meaning in life.”
“Now I can say, ‘I did something right,’” he said with relief and pride.
And with the same blood running through their veins, the two strangers now plan to stay in touch as “blood brothers.”
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