The gift of life(2)

"It wasn't painful, but my waist was a little sore [from the injections]," he said.

After five days of injections, Zhang was hooked up to a blood transfusion machine for around five hours.

"At first, I was conscious. After a while, I felt quite tired, so I fell asleep," said Zhang. "When I woke up again, the procedure was already over."

"My first reaction was relief that I had done the right thing."

Resistance to donation

Gao said that although stem cell transplants were a relatively risk-free procedure, many in China were still reluctant to register as donors, particularly older generations.

She said that about 70 percent of those on the CMDP's registry were between 18 and 35. "The majority of potential donors are young people. We need more support from older people," said Gao.

Gao said that many middle-aged and elderly Chinese people try to prevent their younger relatives from being potential marrow donors.

"There are numerous cases of parents, grandparents or other relatives opposing donation," said Gao. "Sometimes, a donor's grandparents have even said that they would disown the donor if he or she goes through with the operation."

Gao said that the reason that older family members frequently objected to marrow donation was because they did not understand the procedure, and found it difficult to let go of traditional biases. Gao said that there was a traditional Chinese way of thinking that a person's body came from their parents, so it was difficult for young people who wanted to donate to go against their parents wishes.

"We don't require parents' approval for a donation, but we always suggest that donors get permission from their families," said Gao. "[But] a lot of older people can't accept it. There's a knowledge gap."

Gao said that in some cases, the CMDP would organize meetings between the families of potential donors and donors who had already gone through the procedure to allay their fears.

Zhang Yi, a 25-year-old who works in construction, was one such donor who needed to persuade his parents to allow him to go through with the procedure.

Zhang Yi signed up to the CMDP registry in 2008, as a student at Tianjin University.

"I joined up along with the rest of my classmates," said Zhang Yi. "But at the time, I didn't know much about it."

In early 2013, Zhang Yi was contacted by the CMDP. They had found a match for him in a patient suffering from follicular lymphoma in Denmark. Unusually, the patient was Caucasian, which would make Zhang Yi the first Chinese person to donate stem cells to a white person, if he decided to go through with the procedure.

"My parents were worried," said Zhang Yi. For three days, Zhang Yi and his parents had intense discussions about whether he should donate or not. In addition to the information they received from the CMDP, they consulted local doctors and read up about the procedures online.

"I was told that the method they would be using [blood transfusion] is generally safe," said Zhang Yi. "And that the stem cells they would extract would regenerate themselves."

Zhang Yi underwent marrow transplant in August 2013, with his parents' consent.

More needs to be done

"We still need more publicity and to draw more attention to stem cell donation," said Gao. "And for those who have already joined the CMDP, they should keep themselves healthy in case that they will be needed one day."

As part of the CMDP's efforts to generate more support for their cause, Zhang Yi routinely takes to the street with a team of 50 other volunteers to distribute pamphlets about marrow donation. He also hosted public events, and made speeches based on his own experience, in an effort to encourage more people to sign up to the CMDP's registry.

"I heard from the local government [in Huainan] that the percentage of people donating blood and registering with the CMDP is increasing," said Zhang Yi. "I will continue to do what I am doing."

Both Zhang Yi and Zhang Bao said that they would be happy to donate again if called upon.