Donor 'wanted to give back' after dad's transplant

A young man who became a stem cell donor after a transplant saved his father's life has said it felt "good to pay it forward" after his donation helped a stranger in need.

Karol Sadlisz, who lives in Dorking, Surrey, said his father Gregg was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma four years ago and was told he would need a stem cell transplant.

While nobody in their family was a match, a man from Poland was able to make a critical donation to help battle a rare blood cancer.

Sadlisz, now 19, said: "My parents asked if I would think about signing up once I was old enough. Someone had done it and gone on to save my dad, so if I could have the chance to do the same, I wanted to give back."

Sadlisz signed up to be a stem cell donor, admitting that he had forgotten about joining the register over the years.

But shortly before Christmas last year, he received an email from the charity DKMS informing him that he was a potential match.

In January, Sadlisz went to London to complete his donation, which was given to a middle-aged woman in Canada.

Sadlisz said: "My mum was quite emotional. The patient was a woman her age, so I think it meant a lot to her.

"It felt very full circle. Someone was able to help our family, and now I've been able to help someone else. It feels good to pay it forward."

His father fully recovered and Sadlisz said the family treated his transplant date as a "second birthday".

"It's the day that he got his life back and was able to start over," he added.

Paying tribute to Sadlisz for his "life-saving gift", DKMS spokesperson Bronagh Hughes urged others to join the register.

"There are thousands of patients with blood cancers or disorders still waiting for their match, and we need more people on the stem cell donor register to give them the best odds of a second chance at life," she said.

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