Over 2,000 register as stem cell donors to help PSV football’s terminally ill PR manager
Over 2,000 people registered as stem cell donors after Thijs Slegers, PSV's press secretary, announced he was terminally ill and called for donations to help others, RTL Nieuws reported.
Slegers has been suffering from acute leukemia, also known as blood cancer, for some time, as he announced on Twitter. After the press secretary of the football club PSV Eindhoven called on his followers to donate blood and stem cells, more than 2200 registrations were received by the Dutch center for stem cell donors Matchis.
He wrote on Twitter that there is no possibility for him to recover anymore: "I can't be helped anymore, but others can!" and therefore it would not be too late for other affected people who can still be helped, RTL Nieuws wrote.
— thijsslegers (@thijsslegers) February 2, 2023
For Matchis, this is a big win. "Of course we are happy with every donor. Although there can never be enough. This has been a nice impulse," said a spokesperson. "Normally we only achieve this kind of numbers with campaigns," the spokesperson told the tv program.
According to the Dutch center for stem cell donors, to their surprise, more men have signed up for donations. "Normally 70 percent of the registrations are women and 30 percent men. Now it's the other way around." More stem cells can be collected from male donors than from women. "This allows the stem cell donation to take effect faster and better for the patient, " the spokesperson told RTL Nieuws.
In the Netherlands, about 200 people are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia each year. Half of these are under the age of 18, according to the Integral Cancer Centre of the Netherlands (IKNL).