My name is Inge, I am married to an incredible man, a dogmom to 3 rescue babies and I currently live in Johannesburg.
I grew up in a small, tightly knit community in Henley on Klip, where relationships were intentional and many great memories were made.
In 2023, I was divinely chosen as a puzzle piece in God’s plan to become a bone marrow stem cell doner, and part of someone else’s miracle.
Hubby and I signed up to become donors at a drive held at a local school to try and find a donor for a precious little baby girl fighting Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. A simple mouth swab and form to be completed. We could also have done this at home in just a few minutes through the South African Bone Marrow Registeries online platform, and then they would have coordinated a cheek swab test for us.
Mighty Mack was 4 months old when she was diagnosed, and with the help of her parents behind multiple drives to get people to sign up, she found a donor.
Shortly after her 1st birthday, Mighty Mack had her bone marrow stem cell transplant and we were all praying with her family.
Receiving the call from SABMR that I was close on a 100% match for a patient was a moment in my life that I will never forget. An overwhelming sense of joy and responsibility came over me. Joy because this gave a loss I had recently experienced a great purpose, and responsibility because I now had to do everything I could to make sure that this patient gets the very best chance at life.
My husband, family and friends were overjoyed to hear the fantastic news, and were fully supportive with every step. Many of the people I told, even some healthcare professionals, still thought that the process involved a lot of pain for the donor.
In previous years, the procedure required harvesting bone marrow directly from the bones and was known to be a painful experience.
When I told them that this was a procedure involving minimal discomfort, they were pleasantly surprised.
A summary from phonecall to harvest day (roughly 2 months):
• I was treated like an absolute queen from day 1, which took me aback, as all I was focused on was doing everything I needed to for the patient and thought that the patient would be the main area of focus and concern for SABMR team too. All procedures were explained in great detail, I had an entire team of Doctors, nurses and support staff corresponding with me (the real hero’s in this story).
• A couple of blood tests, scans, etc (to no financial cost of my own) were arranged, I just had to show up. This was to make sure that I was a viable candidate and physically well enough to donate.
• Daily injections are required for 5 days before the harvest day (a small, thin needle which you hardly feel). The medication stimulates your bone marrow to produce many stem cells which gets released into your blood for harvesting. It is normal to experience moments of a cramping-like pain, I had this a few times on day 2-4 of the injections. Nothing that stopped me from my daily activities though.
• Day 5 = harvest day. Huge excitement as the whole team came together for this special moment. Imagine donating blood. The blood is drawn out from one arm, however it is now spun through a machine which collects the stems cells, then it puts the remaining blood back into your body through your other arm. I was consistently monitored and kept comfortable in a private room in hospital. The procedure usually lasts 6-8 hrs, and depending on how many stem cells are harvested/how many are needing to be harvested, it can run over 2 days. I did 2 days with a brilliant yield of stem cells, enough for a potential secondary treatment for the patient – YAY!
Another incredible moment was hearing that Mighty Mack achieved 100% donor chimerism from her transplant months back on the very same day I donated. God was at work.
• Constant check-ins to make sure I was doing well after the harvest was done, as well as another set of blood tests to confirm. Life carried on as usual thereafter, I at most had a tiny bit of fatigue the following day, and the world seemed a little brighter 🙂
I was allowed to send an anonymous letter to the patient, through the very special SABMR representative, after the harvest to wish them well for their transplant. Receiving an anonymous response from the patient after their transplant still brings me to tears when I read it. Can you imagine being on the receiving end?
I now feel part of the SABMR community and I hope to be able to motivate you to sign up with these few points:
•The chance of finding a match is 1 in 100 000, even with more the 40 million donors registered worldwide.
We need a more diverse range of ethnicities signing up to be able to assist more patients.
30% of patients needing a stem cell transplant will find a compatible donor in their family, while the other 70% need to rely on people signing up and committing once contacted.
• This commitment involves very little pain, just a willing heart.
•Currently around 20 stem cell harvests happen through SABMR a year – ONLY! Let’s try increase these numbers.
• If you got a second chance at life, consider how grateful you and your family would be to the person who took the time to sign up.
Sidenote: Inge gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Amelia, in April 2025. Inge and her husband, Kyle, are absolutely delighted, and Amelia is an extremely privileged little girl to have Inge and Kyle as her parents.