Every year, three people in Austria are diagnosed with leukemia every day. Conventional therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy can often contain the disease and prevent the worst from happening. But if that doesn’t work, a stem cell transplant is the last resort. However, the matching donors must be typed. An association that has been doing this for over 25 years is “Giving for Life – Leukemia Aid Austria”.
In June 2022, a typing campaign was organized at Johannes Kepler University. All students were offered the opportunity to register as stem cell donors. One of every students who registered was 27-year-old Lukas Wais from Pasching.
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Genetic twin from Central Europe
“The April day in 2022 started like a normal university day for me. I was walking across campus when I suddenly stumbled upon the typing campaign. I was informed and spontaneously decided to have my cheek swab swabbed. A good year went by and I didn’t even think about it anymore Typing, when I was contacted by the Giving for Life association in the summer of 2023, I had a genetic twin who urgently needed my stem cells,” says Wais.
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Source: Nachrichten
