On the morning of August 3rd, Wang Wenbo, a graduate student at the Powder Metallurgy Research Institute of Central South University, successfully completed his hematopoietic stem cell donation at Xiangya Hospital Central South University, becoming the 18,148th volunteer donor in the country. That afternoon, these precious “seeds of life” would bring a “hope for life” to a fellow native of Shandong.
Wang Wenbo, 24 years old, from Luyi County, Henan Province. Before the college entrance examination, he took a voluntary registration of organ donation as his own adult ceremony at the age of 18. At the end of September 2018,asa freshman, he stopped in front of a voluntary blood donation vehicle in the front of the second canteen in the south campus. It was his first time to donate blood. Watching 400ml of blood being pulled out of his veins, his heart was filled with tension.
In 2023, before his 23rd birthday, Wang Wenbo inadvertently learned that hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is currently an effective means of treating a variety of blood diseases and immune system diseases including leukemia, lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndrome. However, since the probability of successful matching is not high, many patients are waiting for a suitable hematopoietic stem cell donor.
Upon learning this information, Wang Wenbo didn’t hesitate for a moment and immediately joined the ranks of donors. After registering online, he went to the hospital to provide a sample and officially joined the China Marrow Donor Program. What followed was a long wait for the matching results.
In March of this year, the Red Cross Society of China Changsha Branch contacted Wang Wenbo for the first time via phone, informing him that an initial match had been successful. They also inquired whether he lived in Changsha and if he was willing to donate. Wenbo responded decisively, “I’m willing to!”
At the end of June, Teacher Li Haixia from the Changsha Red Cross Society reached out to him. After explaining the urgency of the patient’s current condition, she provided a detailed explanation of the hematopoietic stem cell donation process and arranged a physical examination and other related matters. Wenbo said that on the day of the physical exam, he was somewhat surprised to see over a dozen blood collection tubes lined up in a row, but he never thought about backing out. Later, high-resolution blood samples were drawn and sent to the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University for matching tests.
According to the collection plan, starting from July 30, Wang Wenbo had to go to the hospital at 8:30 AM and 8:30 PM every day for mobilization injections. On the night before the hematopoietic stem cell suspension collection on August 2, Wang Wenbo wrote a letter to another version of himself somewhere in the world. In the letter, he wrote: “I hope we can pass on our love and bring hope to more people. If everyone contributes just a little bit of love, the world will become a beautiful place. Every small act of kindness can gather into a great force that changes the world.”
