Man travels 10,000 miles to meet the stranger who saved his life

A man has travelled over 10,000 miles to meet the stranger who saved his life by donating his stem cells through the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry. Luke Melling, 31, travelled from Melbourne, Australia to Manchester, UK, to meet Alastair Hawken, 51, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, who had been found as a perfect match for him 3 years earlier and had donated his stem cells to treat the cancer Luke had been diagnosed with 12 years earlier.

Alastair and Luke had an emotional first in person meeting on Friday, in Avenham Park, Preston, along with their families. Alastair exclaimed "I never thought this moment would come!" as the 2 men shared a hug, adding "to meet you is a blessing, it completes the circle". As

Luke's mum, Sue Melling, 58, joined the hug, she told Alastair "It's so good to meet you. Thank you so much, thank you so, so much."

They are sharing the details of their story and first meet in order to encourage others to sign up to the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry, as Alastair did.

Luke's story

Luke was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma at the age of 16 and underwent a series of treatments, relapsing four times. In 2022, he was told a stem cell transplant was his last treatment option - but in order for it to be possible, he needed a donor with a matching tissue type.

Luke's sister wasn't a match and nor was there a suitable registered donor within Australia, so the global stem cell registries were searched.

Luke says: "Finding out that my sister wasn't a match was terrifying - we just didn't know if there would be anybody registered who would be a suitable match for me. Knowing that it was the last treatment option for me and that I was relying on the kindness of strangers having signed up to a stem cell register was really difficult. Thankfully, there was a match there - a man in the UK, who I now know to be Alastair.

"Meeting Alastair in person is a dream come true. What do you say to the person who has given you your life back by literally giving a part of themselves? There are no words but I hope he knows how grateful I am. Me being able to get on that plane and fly across the world is only possible because of him and the moment I got to give him that huge hug and thank him in person is a moment I'll never forget."

Alastair's story

Alastair had joined the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry in 2008, at a regular blood donation appointment. "I started giving blood in memory of my mum, who sadly died when I was 23. She needed 9 units of blood during treatment for cancer and that inspired me to give back.

"Joining the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry whilst at one of these regular appointments was a no-brainer", says Alastair. "I didn't really think about it again until I got the phone call, 14 years later, to tell me I had come up as a match for somebody who needed a stem cell transplant. Of course, I didn't hesitate to say yes when they asked if I wanted to go ahead."

Alastair donated his stem cells in April 2022. Due to COVID risks and Australian airspace being restricted, the stem cells were shipped out cryogenically frozen. Luke had his transplant a month later and is now back to full health.

Alastair, a father of three, says: "I'm so grateful to have been able to be a part of Luke's story - but I didn't do it alone. There's a whole team of people, quite literally on both sides of the world, who this couldn't have happened without - from the medics who treated Luke in Australia to the staff at the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry and many more.

"Donating my stem cells was so simple - it was a few hours of sitting, watching TV and having snacks brought to me! - yet it's something so important and meeting Luke today really brings home just what a difference that simple act can make. It's incredible to finally get to meet

Luke and his lovely mum, too. We're bonded in a way that I can't quite describe and meeting them both in person is really such an honour."

Luke adds: "In 2023, after the stem cell transplant, I started to feel like myself again. I ran a marathon, I travelled, I lived life in a way that hadn't been possible for me for so long - and that's all thanks to Alastair. If he hadn't made the decision to join the NHS Stem Cell Donor

Registry, things could have been very different for me now - there was nobody else who could have done what he has done for me."

The NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry

Registering as a potential stem cell donor is easy and most people will never be asked to donate, but when they are, it can be life-saving - in many cases, a stem cell transplant is a patient's only chance of a cure.

Stem cells can be found in the bone marrow - a soft, spongy tissue at the centre of certain bones - and can produce all essential blood cells, including red and white cells and platelets. The stem cells can be mobilised from the bone marrow to the blood, to be easily collected through a process similar to blood donation.

Stem cell transplants are used to treat a number of diseases, including some forms of cancer. When a patient needs a transplant, a global database, or registry, of people who have agreed to donate is searched to find a person who has a matching tissue type, which can be quite rare.

How you can help

The NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry recruits blood donors aged between 17 and 40 years old. To join, an extra blood sample is taken during a routine blood donation appointment - donors should alert a member of staff that they would like to join the register before they donate.

Luke says: "It's so important that people register as potential stem cell donors if they can - the more people on the registers, the more chance that every patient that is looking for their match, their Alastair, will find them."

Alastair adds: "Joining the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry was really easy - I had an extra sample taken at a blood donation appointment and that was it. For over a decade, I didn't have to do anything else. Then when I did get the call, the only ask was to take one day out of my life to do something that's very similar to donating blood and that small act saved somebody's life. It's really quite remarkable and I'm not sure what else you could do that's so easy but has such an impact. I'd recommend it to everybody."

Lilian Hook, Director of Cell, Apheresis and Gene Therapies at NHS Blood and Transplant, says: "It's fantastic to see Luke and Alastair get to meet in person. They are two people who live on opposite sides of the world and yet now have this remarkable story and bond to share. It really does go to show the importance of stem cell donation and the real tangible difference it can make to somebody's life.

"By joining the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry, you are giving an opportunity for more patients to find the life-saving match they so desperately need - it could be your neighbour or it could be a stranger on the other side of the world but the impact on them and their families is the same.

"Joining the registry is easy - just ask at your next blood donation appointment and one day, like Alastair, you could get the call asking you to help out."

All blood, platelet and plasma donors aged 17 to 40 can ask about joining the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry at the start of their next appointment.

Find out more about joining the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry and the donation process.