'If I can help someone in their time of need' - Sleaford mum gives gift of life to blood cancer patient in US
An heroic Lincolnshire mum who selflessly donated stem cells to give a second chance at life to a total stranger has seen that anonymous encounter grow into a transatlantic friendship between their families.
Since her university days, she’s been signed up to the stem cell donor register with blood cancer charity DKMS and didn’t think twice about donating when she was matched with someone needing a transplant.
After two years they were permitted to make contact, and a friendship blossomed. Now, they’ve teamed up with DKMS to share their amazing story to encourage others to join the stem cell donor register.
“I thought, if I can help someone in their time of need, through something that’s of very minimal impact on my own life, why wouldn’t I do that? If it was me in that position where my loved ones were needing stem cells for a transplant, I would want someone else out there to be there to support them,” Lucy explains.
Registering as a potential stem cell donor with DKMS is quick and simple, explains the charity - just some painless mouth swabs and a few health questions. Anyone aged 17-55 and in general good health can sign up at a DKMS event or stand, as Lucy did, or online at dkms.org.uk
Nevertheless, getting a call out of the blue from DKMS to say she was a potential donor match for someone in need took Lucy by surprise.
“I’d completely forgotten about being on the register,” she admits, “but I was so excited. I was straight onto my manager at work to let them know I might need time off: they were really supportive.”
Lucy was screened at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital to confirm that she was a match, and that she was in good health for donating. A donation date was fixed – Lucy remembers that her husband Tom was a bit apprehensive as their daughter India was just 18 months old at the time.
“But DKMS were really supportive in terms of explaining the process, and making all the arrangements – everything was really clear,” she says.
Nine out of ten stem cell donations are made through a simple, outpatient procedure similar to donating blood platelets.
All went smoothly on donation day. Due to strict anonymity rules for stem cell donations, after the transplant all DKMS could tell Lucy was that her cells had gone to an older man in the USA. For two years, only anonymous contact between the two was allowed – brokered by DKMS.
Across the Atlantic in New York State, retired doctor Harvey Gorrin had been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukaemia. Drug treatment worked well for him, but his doctors felt the best way forward, to keep Harvey cancer-free, would be a stem cell transplant.
“My children all offered to be the donor, figuring that they’re related to me genetically,” says Harvey. But some were too old, and only around one in three patients will find a stem cell donor match within their immediate family, which is where the donor register comes in. A worldwide search started and – unbeknown to Harvey at this point – Lucy was identified as his donor match.
“Soon after the transplant, I started to feel better,” shares Harvey. “I stayed in the hospital for about a month and then they wanted me to stay close to the hospital. We walked in the park, near the apartment where we stayed. Slowly, I gained my strength back. Today, I’ve been on my Peloton bike,” says Harvey, now a grandfather of seven, aged 81.
During the two-year period of strictly anonymous contact, Lucy recalls. “Before I was approached to support Harvey, I lost my grandmother in 2020 to another blood cancer, lymphoma. So, it was really meaningful, because we couldn’t help her, but I could help someone else.”
The two years were up in September 2025, and both Lucy and Harvey were happy for DKMS to put them in full contact with each other.
“I knew I wanted to hug her and tell her how happy I was that she did what she did,” says Harvey. “Right away, my wife and I decided we were gonna go wherever she is – that meant the UK.” Finally, in late November 2025, Harvey, his wife, daughter and a grandson flew to London and arranged to meet Lucy, Tom and little India at a restaurant in Newark for Sunday lunch.
“There were a lot of tears – just so many happy tears when we first met!” Lucy remembers. “Tom and I had both expected there to maybe be a period of awkwardness, when you’re meeting someone for the first time, but it literally just felt like we were meeting with friends or family. And it feels like we’ve got family on the other side of the world now.”
“I guess I knew that there are good people like Lucy but I was amazed that I was able to receive the gift that she gave me. I’m eternally grateful,” says Harvey. They’ve both reflected on the amazing system that meant Lucy could donate in the UK, with everything lined up so her stem cells could be flown overseas via a courier and arrive safely in the US – all within the right time frame for Harvey to then receive them at the exact point he needed them. They now hope their story will encourage others to sign up to the stem cell donor register with DKMS.
“If you want to make a big difference in somebody’s life; if you want to save somebody’s life and give them extra years, like what happened for me from what Lucy did, then please sign up,” says Harvey. “Lucy gave my grandchildren their grandfather. She gave my wife her husband, my children their father. Lucy gave me my life.”
DKMS spokesperson Deborah Hyde says: “Everyone who signs up as a potential stem cell donor joins a worldwide chain that offers hope of more precious time with loved ones for people waiting for a stem cell transplant. Lucinda and Harvey’s beautiful story shows how simple it can be to make a difference to people with blood cancers and disorders: registering is quick, and the impact is profound. We urgently need more people to join the register.”
To register, or to find out more about stem cell donation, visit dkms.org.uk
Things you didn’t know about blood cancer:
- Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer.
- Blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
- Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.
- At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant.