Andries Lombard and Amanda Bindeman’s story:
“When I open my eyes in the morning I know the God gave me a second chance.”
Andries Lombard initially from Pinehurst and now living in Canada, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in November 2017. He had almost lost all hope when doctors relayed to him that he didn’t have long to live without a matching stem cell donor.
Andries was gifted a miracle in the form of Amanda Bindeman from Northriding, Gauteng, who was not only a rare 10/10 matched unrelated donor, but her donation on 26 September 2018 saved his life.
“If you get a 10/10 donor match, you have to see that God had a hand in it, especially when doctors say that they cannot believe how close the match is. I will forever be grateful to Amanda for the life you gave me, I know God sent you and people like you make a difference in the world!
Amanda’s story:
Amanda Bindeman, became a registered stem cell donor by chance during a lunchtime visit to her local blood donation centre. She happened to meet a representative of the SABMR who relayed the criteria and the importance of becoming a donor.
Hearing the statistics was very eye-opening and she signed up without hesitation never thinking she would get the call. She almost forgot that she had signed up as a donor if it was not for one fateful day in 2018 when she was clearing her purse and came across her donor card. A week later she received a call from the SABMR enquiring if she was still keen to donate as she was a match for a patient.
The pair along with Andries’ wife Anita met earlier this year. “It was a life-altering moment for me to meet his family and understand how my one small act changed their lives forever. Finding such a close-matching donor is very rare. This journey has been a blessing and one that I would repeat if ever needed!”
