Marcos de la Fuente refuses to be called a hero for the fact that two years ago he donated bone marrow to a stranger, who could very well be his neighbor, a Spanish citizen or someone else who lives on the other side of the planet . "But if I am the one who is grateful!", he exclaims between laughs. Yes, he says, he is very happy to have been able to do his bit and ensure that this stranger has more years of life. "For me, simply, it has been exciting".
Next to him is María Revuelta, a former leukemia patient. She was diagnosed with this cancer when she was 22 weeks pregnant. A transplant was impossible in his condition, so chemotherapy arrived. When she gave birth to Eva, they considered the transplant. First they looked for donors among the family, but there was no one compatible (the odds of compatibility are one in four).
María found a compatible donor thanks to the world registry of bone marrow donors, to which the Spanish Redmo belongs (managed by the Josep Carreras Foundation), with 40 million donors from 60 countries. Redmo has close to half a million subscribers. On July 20, 2011, the transplant took place. "I can only be grateful to the donors. I am delighted to share my life with Eva, who is 12 years old", says María excitedly.
Marcos had no idea that bone marrow could be donated. He found out about four years ago at work. A colleague told her that she had gone to the donor register to volunteer and that she was hoping that one day she would be called so she could donate. This would mean that they had found a compatible patient with leukemia or multiple melanoma, among other hematological diseases. That would be when the donation would take place.
Marcos made a bad face at the time, he remembers. "All I could think of was the pain, so great that I had to assume that a huge needle was stuck in your spine!", he narrates. But her colleague dispelled the myth: donating bone marrow does not hurt. They sedate you and take a small amount of marrow blood from the back of your hip bone. And that's it. There is no risk, at most a slight discomfort in the puncture area, like all punctures.
Fear dispelled, Marcos volunteered as a donor at a blood transfusion center in his community. The only initial requirement is to fill out a form and undergo a small blood draw to determine the histocompatibility group. And, of course, be between 18 and 40 years old and in good health. The criterion of good health consists of not suffering from any cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary, hepatic or hematological disease, or other chronic conditions that require continuous treatment, and not having a history or risk of having suffered from hepatitis B, C virus infections or AIDS.
Marcos feels "lucky" because he got a call from the Josep Carreras Foundation. Many other donors are never called. In his case, he had to "compete" with two other possible compatibles. In the end it was he who gave, because he was the most suitable. "It was worth it, don't doubt it", he insists.
María and Marcos narrated their stories in an event held last week at the Ministry of Health, presided over by the director of the National Transplantation Organization (ONT), Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, and the Minister of Health, José Miñones . Alongside him, Juliana Villa, director of the Carreras Foundation, asked for an increase in the number of donors, especially among young men, the profile that is most lacking in Spain and, nevertheless, "what works best for to transplantation".
And it is that Spain, leader in donations and transplants, is "weakening" when it comes to bone marrow. A good part of those who have offered to donate are women (two out of three people), with an average age of 32. In addition, of the 480,000 registered donors, 85,000 are over 50 years old, which means that in ten years these citizens will disappear from the register. "Life goes to all of us, because we can all be in this situation, or a family member", indicated the director of the Josep Carreras Foundation, who remembers that bone marrow donations decrease every year, despite the fact that about 600 transplants a year in Spain, 25,000 in the world. "We need to increase the probability of having compatible marrow blood and, above all, from young men (in the rest of the world, 50% of donors are men)".
How can it be done? Villa is clear: through social networks, something that Minister Miñones also agrees on. You need to look for young donors through the media where they move. Few will go to the official pages of the Ministry of Health, the Carreras Foundation or the hospitals. "You have to go where the young people are and you have to go there now."
