Junior student donates stem cells to save leukemia patient

Feng Qianlang, a junior student in Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin donated his hematopoietic stem cells to a leukemia patient who was more than 2,000 kilometers away in Shanghai on Monday.

Feng signed up for the China Marrow Donor Program in his first year in the university after attending a public lecture about the donation of hematopoietic stem cells.

"When I attended the lecture I immediately realized how meaningful it would be if I could save somebody else's life with my hematopoietic stem cells," said Feng. "Therefore, when I received the message that my stem cells matched a patient in June, I agreed without hesitation."

He spent nearly five months on a series of physical examinations, but only told his parents just before the first operation and that too because his teacher asked him to.

"I didn't want my parents to be worried," said Feng. "All parents fear for their child when he is about to have an operation."

The anxious parents arrived in Harbin from Chongqing as soon as they got the news and they eventually supported their brave son after getting detailed explanation from staff members.

The operation was conducted at Harbin Institute of Hematology and Oncology. Upon completion, his stem cells were taken by a doctor to Shanghai to save a man as young as him.

When Feng was in hospital, he received a special gift from his classmates, a thick notebook filled with his daily photos and words of encouragement, which deeply touched him.

"It is really a precious gift for me," he said with tears in his eyes.

This is the 102 marrow donation case conducted in Heilongjiang. Representatives from the Red Cross Society of the province came to the hospital to visit Feng and presented him a Certificate of Honor.