My name is Colin Vickers, and I have survived three kinds of blood cancer. Meeting my stem cell donor was an incredible experience that I will always be grateful for! I’m hoping this story will encourage others to consider registering as a potential donor.
At noon, 15 October 2021, I received the chance for better health at The Ottawa Hospital Transplantation and Cellular Transfer Centre. It was my only option for a cure following my treatment for AML. With no sibling donor match, I needed a matched unrelated donor. The Canadian Blood Services donor registry and, subsequently, registries around the world were searched for a match. After a donor match was found in Scotland, I was very fortunate to have a successful transplant.
On 3 May 2025, I met my donor Charlie in Rothesay IN PERSON on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. It was both “magical and serene.”
While we were corresponding anonymously Charlie shared this important thought with me: “I’m a ‘pay it forward’ kind of person and was always taught to go through life acting the way I would want to be treated. When I was made aware of the register and what it meant to a family we knew personally, there was never a doubt for me that I wanted to register. I’m glad I did, and someone has benefited from it.” As well, Charlie said: “people in small Scottish communities like Rothesay just step up to do these things”.
What’s next? I believe that we will continue to grow our relationship. I hope Charlie will visit us in Canada. Charlie is open to sharing his story as a way of encouraging fellow Scots to register. For my part, I lead a project based North Bay, Ontario, Canada to educate people about blood stem cell transplantation and register potential donors. We have registered 500 people in the last couple of years, and our “reach” is expanding with an expectation that we will have registered 1000 people within the next school year.
Hopefully more people will register to become a stem cell donor. “Someone’s parent, partner or child needs (blood) stem cells right now!” The thoughtful and unselfish act of completing the registration process could make a huge difference somewhere in Canada, Scotland or beyond.
