St Albans: Stem cell donor found for leukaemia patient

Ben Collins, 24, faced an anxious race against time after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on Christmas Day last year.

Needing a stem cell donor for life-saving treatment, his family's hopes were dashed when a potential donor in Germany fell through at the last minute.

Ben with his mum Katrina (Image: Loudbird PR)

But, two weeks ago things changed when it was revealed that another donor from Germany had been identified.

After the heartbreak of last time, Ben and his family kept the news private - but this time there was to be no last minute despair.

Ben had the transplant on Thursday, July 4, and is now recovering in hospital.

His mum Katrina said: "It was a very strange feeling on the night.

"It only took half an hour, so no time at all. Don’t know what we really expected but his dad, his girlfriend Emma and myself sat in silence as it went into his arm.

"The stress of waiting for it all to happen and even the wait for the stem cells to get into the country was awful."

Ben with his dog Barney (Image: Loudbird PR)

While the 'magical' transplant goes a long way, Ben is not out of the woods yet and faces a long and gruelling road to recovery from here.

Suggested Reading:

• St Albans: Family appeal for life saving stem cell donor

• St Albans: Over 500 attend swab day for stem cell donor

• Chicken killed in Wheathampstead allotment break-in

He's set to spend a month in hospital as his body begins to rebuild its immune system before continuing his recovery from home.

The community rallied around Ben, with more than 500 people attending a swab day at Verulam Rugby Club last month in a desperate bid to find a donor.

With only seven per cent of the UK on the register to donate, Katrina is keen for efforts to continue to help others who are in Ben's position, saying: "I would hate this all to stop now because Ben has his match. There are so many more people like Ben out there and it would be amazing if we could keep this going"."