Michael Milliken donated his bone marrow stem cells when he was 17-years old and became SABMR’s youngest donor. At the time Micheal was a matric student at Beaulieu College in Johannesburg who signed up as a donor at an awareness and fundraising event in 2022. What he thought could be a great community service opportunity, turned into a life-saving mission. When he received the call that he was a potential match for someone who required a transplant, he asked himself: “How could I not follow through now”, because someone was given hope that their life could be saved. His family and friends were very supportive and proud of him. He was told that he would have some discomfort in preparation for the donation, and afterwards as well. However, he did not experience any discomfort beforehand, and the day after the donation he woke up feeling fine, went to school and even played cricket that afternoon. Michael’s motto is that if you start something you should finish it. He says that you never know if you’ll be in a similar situation where you need stem cells and if one day you are, you’ll want someone to donate to you.
At 17-years old, and became SABMR’s youngest donor
