Yaxin.com news (reporter Fei Xuan) - On July 14, half a month after donating hematopoietic stem cells, Fang Yan (a pseudonym) returned to work at the Wangjiagou Subdistrict Office in Tounan District, Urumqi City, Xinjiang. His donation of hematopoietic stem cells brought hope for life to a boy suffering from leukemia.
Fang Yan is 28 years old and works as a safety inspector at the subdistrict office's inspection station. On July 1, he went to the Air Force Hospital in Beijing to donate hematopoietic stem cells to a 12-year-old leukemia patient.
"The thing that scared me most was the needle used for drawing blood; it was the thickest I'd ever seen. I still have bruises on my arms," Fang said. He stayed in Beijing for a week and had always wanted to see the boy, but unfortunately, according to regulations, donors and recipients cannot meet.
When the reporter visited Fang's office, we saw an honorary certificate issued by the China Marrow Donor Program sitting on his desk. "I am the 2254th donor nationwide, which is worth commemorating, but this can only stay in the office. My mom doesn't know yet. I'm afraid she'll get too emotional, so I'll keep it a secret as long as I can," Fang said.
A year ago, during a blood donation, Fang voluntarily added his blood type information to the China Marrow Donor Program registry. "The nurse said the probability of a successful bone marrow match is very small, only one in ten thousand. At the time, I wondered if there might be someone in the world who could match with me," Fang said. Unexpectedly, in April this year, he received a call from the Red Cross Society of Urumqi, informing him that a boy with leukemia in Beijing urgently needed hematopoietic stem cells, and Fang's bone marrow matched the boy's quite well.
"One in ten thousand chance happened to me, it's our destiny. I would give up half of my life to save his, and it's worth it!" However, his idea met with strong opposition from his mother: "You're not even married yet! Who will take responsibility if your body has problems after the donation? No way you're donating bone marrow." His girlfriend Xia, with whom he had been dating for a year, also didn't understand him.
"Even though they all didn't support me, I secretly underwent high-resolution typing and physical examination," Fang said with a smile. But the examination results made him quite upset — he had hypertension and excessive levels of two liver enzymes.
Following the doctor's advice, Fang started quitting alcohol and smoking. After mistakenly drinking medicinal wine at a class reunion and being poisoned, resulting in one death and three injuries, a month later, his re-examination showed everything was normal. On July 1, he secretly went to Beijing without telling his mother.
"Before he left, he came to ask for leave. I was a bit worried and advised him to think carefully since he was still young and his mother disagreed. But he just smiled and said, 'It's not a big deal,'" Director Sun of Wangjiagou Subdistrict Office said.
Because she was concerned about Fang, Xia eventually accompanied him to the General Hospital of the Air Force in Beijing. "At first, I was really surprised and didn't want him to do it, but after understanding the method of donating hematopoietic stem cells, I supported him," Xia said.
Colleague Zhao Xinjun said that actually, no matter who it is, making such a decision requires great courage. Fang let him see the beauty of the world.
According to Liu Fang, director of the Xinjiang Management Center of the China Marrow Donor Program under the Autonomous Region Red Cross Society, the boy's surgery was very successful. Among Xinjiang volunteers, there have already been 13 cases of successful matching surgeries.
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