FROM EAST LONDON TO BEING A LIFESAVER IN SOUTH AMERICA

A YOUNG apprentice mechanic from East London who signed up as a stem cell donor by chance has become a 1 in 100 000 lifesaving match for a patient in South America.

- STAFF REPORTER

Twenty-three-year-old Bradley Peters is now the first confirmed match for a patient, not only in the country but across the 64-country, 10-year Matches on the Map campaign.

The Matches on the Map inter-continental stem cell recruitment drive is spearheaded by former transplant survivor, Robin Lewis and his wife Jolandie who left Mpumalanga on their epic journey in September 2023.

To date the campaign has garnered more than 1 000 eligible stem cell donor sign-ups to the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR). Peters signed up with the Matches on the Map team at an awareness drive last year. Nearly six months to the day, he received a call from the SABMR informing him that he was a potential match for a patient in far-flung South America. Peters, who went on to donate his stem cells, said he never thought that such a small act would result in potentially saving the life of another person 6500 km across the South Atlantic Ocean.