Stem cell recipient in North Bay, Ont. encourages people to sign up for registry

After a stem cell transplant saved his life, Colin Vickers is paying it forward.

Vickers, chairs a stem cell swabbing campaign in North Bay, Ont.

The Rotary Club of Nipissing, the Nipissing University Nursing Society and Canadore College, have partnered the Canadian Blood Services to collect samples from potential stem cell donors between the ages of 17 and 35.

Vickers said he has had three different types of blood cancer in the last 13 years. Around 18 months ago he received a stem cell transplant to treat acute myeloid leukemia.

"In my case, there were no siblings in my family to make that happen, so I received an unrelated donor stem cell," he said.

Vickers said his donor, who has chosen to remain anonymous, was from another country. But because Canada is part of an international registry of stem cell donors, he was able to find a match.

"I have sent a letter to my donor expressing my thanks and my family's thanks for what this person has done," he said.

"I haven't heard anything back and that's OK. I mean, I respect that the donor may want to remain anonymous."

The Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry has more than 440,000 registered donors, and the international registry includes more than 80 countries, with 40 million donors.

On Wednesday and Thursday, potential donors in North Bay will be invited to swab the inside of their cheeks to provide a sample and get in the registry.

Vickers said it's especially important racialized people register to be donors. He said because he's white it was easier for him to find a compatible donor.

"So a person who's Indigenous is is best matched with the Indigenous donor and so on with people of Black heritage or South Asian heritage," he said.

Vickers said two-thirds of the donors on the Canadian list are white.

He added there are around 900 people in Canada waiting for a stem cell transplant.

"Stem cells can treat several kinds of blood cancers as well as approximately 80 other medical conditions, including sickle cell disease and, in some cases, multiple sclerosis" said second-year Nipissing University nursing student Hayden Lloyd, in a press release.

Loyd and their peers will be part of the swabbing events on Wednesday and Thursday.