Giving the greatest gift of all
MELBOURNE resident Bernhard Krupp has spoken of the joy he felt when he met the Sydneysider who saved his life thanks to the Gift of Life stem cell registry.
MELBOURNE resident Bernhard Krupp has spoken of the joy he felt when he met the Sydneysider who saved his life thanks to the Gift of Life stem cell registry.
Krupp was 60 when he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in 2010 and he was told that he would almost certainly die if he did not receive a stem cell transplant.
“I quiver talking about it,” Krupp told The AJN.
“I had given up hope but my kids kept telling me that there could be a cure and they had hope.
“As it turned out, there was an ex-South African living close by in Sydney and I’m very lucky and grateful.”
Roy Gruenpeter had signed up to the registry in 2006, and turned out to be a perfect stem cell match.
Following a simple procedure, his stem cells were donated to Krupp in 2012 but it would be another two and a half years before he came face-to-face with the man whose life he saved.
“Meeting Roy was emotional for me and my whole family,” Krupp said.
“He is such a wonderful person and such a gem and it was unbelievable to meet him.”
Gruenpeter told The AJN he was humbled by the meeting.
“It was very special to have met Bernhard and his family on the weekend.
“It was very emotional and obviously amazing to see the appreciation of someone who you have physically taken off their deathbed and to be standing with them healthy.”
Gruenpeter joined the Gift of Life register because after years as a life guard he saw it as another way to be able to help people in need.
Encouraging others to sign up, he said, “The feeling of saving someone’s life can’t be explained in words and everyone could be able to do that by participating in a relatively painless process if they join the registry.
“I encourage everyone to join.”
There are currently four Jewish Leukaemia patients that desperately need matches to save their lives.
Gift of Life’s Shula Endrey-Walder is calling on people to join the registry by going to the testing session at Melbourne’s Caulfield Blood Donor Centre on Tuesday, July 28, or booking an appointment at the Wolper Jewish Hospital in Sydney.
For more information, email info@giftoflifeaustralia.org.au.
JOSHUA LEVI
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