Bone marrow donation: when saving lives is an international endeavour

As a donor, you’re part of a special community that helps to improve and save the lives of thousands of people every year. Some of our donors even gift life to people on the other side of the world!

This month marks one year since the New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZBMDR) became part of New Zealand Blood Service, performing vital work to help save people’s lives both here and overseas.

The New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry team (L-R) Carolyn Crump, Paulette Tasker, and Judith Lawrence, help to co-ordinate life-saving bone marrow donations.

Team Leader Carolyn Crump says NZBMDR works with registries around the world to find unrelated volunteer donors for people needing a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.

“These people may need a transplant to help treat an illness like cancer, but don’t have a family member who is a suitable match to donate,” she explains.

That’s when international co-operation and communication, the generosity of donors, and a good dose of logistical planning comes into play.

“In the past couple of years we’ve received bone marrow donations from Australia, the United States, Germany, the UK, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, France, Israel, South Africa, Netherlands and Korea,” Carolyn says. “All of which have helped to treat patients here.”

And it’s a reciprocal process.

“About half of the matched, unrelated donations made by New Zealanders go to patients here with the other half going overseas to countries like Australia, the USA, the UK, and France,” Carolyn says.

In the past year 43 transplants have been carried out in New Zealand, with six using unrelated donations from local Kiwi donors and the rest sourced from overseas. There have also been many more transplants where the donors have been related to the recipients.

So how do cells safely make it from one side of the world to the other?

Carolyn says it starts with identifying ‘a match’, liaising with the relevant registry, and checking the donor is still happy to come in and donate.

“Once the cells have been collected, we then have 72 hours to get them back to New Zealand and infused into the patient,” Carolyn says. “Someone travels with the cells at all times, and they’re stored in a temperature controlled-container and taken on board the aircraft rather than being stowed in the hold.”

Once back in New Zealand, the cells - which can’t be passed through airport x-ray machines and are accompanied by plenty of paperwork and forms – go straight to the hospital ready for use in the patient.

So far this year 13 people from around the motu – Auckland, Waikato, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin - have donated bone marrow to help save a life.

Are you between 18- and 35-years-old and interested in joining the registry? Talk to one of our staff next time you’re in donating blood or plasma.

You can also visit the NZBMDR website (bonemarrow.org.nz) to learn more and read the real-life stories of people whose lives have been saved.

There are currently more than 13,500 people on the New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry.