A 24-year-old who gave up tickets to see England play Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-finals to help a stranger in need of emergency treatment has found out that he saved his life.
Sam Astley had been overjoyed when his girlfriend Beth Hill, 25, won tickets in a competition for the historic Three Lions match at Wembley Stadium back in July.
But the he turned down the opportunity to go and watch the national team play for the very first time after discovering he was a donor match for a patient needing a stem cell and bone marrow transplant.
He had signed up to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register and to his shock and disbelief discovered the procedure in London was the same day as the match.
Sam, from Dudley, West Midlands, said he has no regrets at turning down the chance to watch Gareth Southgate's men reach the Euro 2020 final.
"Life is more important than a football game at the end of the day,” he said. "No football game beats saving someone's life."
As well as donating stem cells, Sam - who works as a buyer for a manufacturing technology firm - donated a litre of bone marrow.
His selfless gesture was praised by the likes of Gary Lineker and even resulted in a celebrity campaign to get him and his girlfriend VIP tickets to see England in the final.
And now, more than 100 days on from the procedure, Sam has also found out that his donation has helped successfully save someone’s life, Metro reported.
But now, more than 100 days on from the procedure, Sam has also found out that his donation has helped successfully save someone’s life, with the recipient having now reached the 100-day milestone.
He called the news “really positive”. While he could not find out what the recipient’s details were due to confidentiality reasons, Sam has been permitted to write them an anonymous letter.
While the procedure Sam went through to harvest the bone marrow left him with a sore back for several days, he has said he didn’t have any other bad side effects.
“After two weeks I was back to full energy. I was quite nervous before but I had no side effects; it really was quite easy from my side,” he said.
“I’d do it again if somebody asked me to.”
Henny Braund MBE, chief executive of blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, said Sam’s story “captured the attention of the entire country” during an exciting Euros tournament.
“In sharing his donation experience, 1,500 people were inspired to apply to join the Anthony Nolan register.
"To put it simply, this equals 1,500 more chances for patients hoping for a second chance of life – but there is more to do.”
Men aged 16 to 30 are particularly being encouraged to join the register, as they are the most likely to be chosen to donate.
Anthony Nolan’s struggle with deadly Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome in 1951, and his mum Shirley’s tireless campaign to save him by finding a suitable bone marrow donor, led to the establishment of the world’s first register of volunteer donors here in the UK.
While a suitable match for Anthony was never found, leading to his death at just seven years of age,the register became his legacy, recruiting donors around the world.
Their bone marrow and stem cells have saved more than 20,000 patients with leukaemia and other blood disorders.
Anyone thinking of looking into donating can sign up online at anthonynolan.org. Your actions could potentially save someone’s life – just like Sam.
