This article is a sad one. A young 32 year old father, Paul Sim (two sons, 13 & 8 years old) was a wagon driver who broke his hip and twisted his knee. During a two and half month stay in hospital for his treatment, his bone marrow stopped producing the necesary replacement cells (condition known as aplastic anemia) and he had to have blood and platelet transfusions. The aplastic anemia could have been a result of his medication or perhaps a viral infection.
However, his condition continued to deteriorate and a donor could not be found despite his countrymen's best efforts at identifying a suitable match. The doctors probably did try to match his sister Angela's stem cells and his children's but to no avail. Hundreds of people came forward but they didn't match either.
The best thing would have been for Paul to have had banked his own stem cells prior to the accident. He could have called on them immediately for the transplant, saving precious money, time and giving himself the best chance of success.
From the Mayo Clinic Website:
Bone marrow transplantation — replacing diseased bone marrow with healthy bone marrow from a donor — may offer the only successful treatment option for people with severe aplastic anemia.
Many people ask me when the best time is to store their stem cells. Frankly in my personal opinion, there is no time like NOW, because one can't predict when these accidents can occur nor how serious small infections might become.
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