Leicester mum donates stem cells to try to save boy in Germany

A Leicester woman has donated stem cells to try to save the life of a German boy suffering from cancer.

Kam Uddin found out he was matched with a poor child through the blood cancer charity DKMS’s donor register.

His cells were taken in March, which the charity hopes will help boost the boy’s immune system after chemotherapy treatment.

The 39-year-old mother of two has spoken out about her experience in the hope it will help tackle the donor shortage in the Asian community.

“I signed up to register in 2019 after there was an appeal in Leicester to try and find a donor for a five-year-old girl,” Ms Uddin said.

“But then I almost forgot I had.

“In November I was amazed to receive a letter saying I was a good fit.

“You don’t have many details about your match and I just know it’s a boy in Germany.

“I sent him a card saying I hope I can help him. I called him Little P, for patience, and he calls me Big D, for donor.

“I feel really privileged to be in a position where I can really help someone.”

Ms Uddin said she hoped to persuade other Asians to sign up to the register after three members of her immediate family were diagnosed with cancer between December and March.

“As I sat to make my donation, I had a lot of time to think,” she said.

“There can be taboos in the Asian community about organ and tissue donation.

“It’s a subject we don’t always want to talk about, but I’ve seen firsthand how people close to me have become very poor.

“I thought I’d do what I could to put information about joining the stem cell registry out there.”

DKMS spokesperson Mahima Mathur said Ms Uddin had given her match “a second chance at life”.

She said: “If you are found to be a match for someone who needs a transplant, then in nine out of ten cases donating stem cells is a simple process, similar to giving blood.”