Widdrington Station resident Barry Crackett will fly to America on 9 May to meet the boy whose life he saved by donating his bone marrow.
Barry, 34, joined the Anthony Nolan register in January 2002 after seeing a local news story about a young girl who needed a bone marrow transplant. In October 2010, Anthony Nolan contacted Barry to tell him that he was a match for a little boy with blood cancer. “I suppose I was a bit nervous, but what was really nerve-wracking was finding out that the little boy was going through a lot of chemotherapy in preparation for the transplant,” he remembers. “You suddenly realise that this little kid’s relying on you, so you start taking care of yourself a bit better. You don’t want anything to go wrong.”
Barry travelled to London to donate via bone marrow collection on 16 November 2010. “I was quite tired afterwards, but that was it, really. Donating is nowhere near as painful as most people think. I also felt an immense sense of well-being – I’d tried to save someone’s life.”
In December 2012, Barry received a call from Anthony Nolan, telling him that his recipient was a seven-year-old boy who lived in America and who was doing well post-transplant. “It was a bit of a shock to find out that my recipient was American – I didn’t know that Anthony Nolan helped people all over the world. But as soon as I heard that he wanted to meet me, I agreed. How often do you get the chance to meet the person whose life you saved?"
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