Donating did not just save Jan’s life, it changed mine too
Jan said: “The response was crazy. So many people donated 20 dollars or 50.”
Martin’s bone marrow was flown to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where Jan was waiting in an isolation room.
He had been blasted with chemo and radiotherapy so his immune system would not attack Martin’s transplanted cells.
Normally, under strict anonymity rules to protect donor and recipient, Martin and Jan would have been unable to contact each other for years.
But a priest from the North East of England working at the hospital recognised Martin’s address when the bag of bone marrow arrived.
He offered to take a photo of Jan, a thank you letter, and a Czech garnet stone to Martin when he returned home in 1990.
Martin said: “I was stunned. I had no idea my bone marrow had travelled so far. Knowing I’d helped a young father, just like me, brought home how important it was and how easily it could have been me waiting for a stranger to save my life.
“I wrote straight back. The priest also brought a letter from a couple whose daughter was in the same hospital.
“Her transplant didn’t work. Sadly she died, but they wrote to thank me for saving Jan. Responding to them was much harder. How do you find the right words?”
Martin and Jan kept in touch. When Jan’s second daughter was born in 1991, he and Radka named her after Martin.
Jan said: “How do you repay someone who saved your life? Naming our daughter after Martin was our way of showing him we would never forget what he did for us.
“He’s not just the man who saved my life. He is a nice guy. That’s why we’re so close.” Jan, 59, and his family moved to Switzerland, where he landed a job with a sports marketing firm that works with World Athletics.
In 1992 his job brought him to Crystal Palace in South London and he spent a few days with Martin and family.
Jan’s youngest daughter Michaela was born in 1995 and he invited Martin and his family to Switzerland for the baptism and asked him to be godfather.
The two families continued to visit each other and holidayed together in the Czech capital Prague. When Jan’s eldest, Jana, was studying at Newcastle University, she regularly spent weekends with Martin and his wife Tracey.
Martin said: “It meant so much to visit Jan for the 30 anniversary of his transplant earlier this year. They showed us the sights and we went up the mountains. It was brilliant. I could never have imagined this when I joined the stem cell register all those years ago.”
He added: “I hope Martin and I will be able to celebrate another anniversary together in ten years.”
The Anthony Nolan register matches potential donors to patients needing stem cell transplants and does vital research. To join, donate or find out more, see anthonynolan.org.