Tearjerking moment father, 43, and his family meet the stranger who saved his life by donating her stem cells
- James O'Donnell, 43, was diagnosed with life-threatening aplastic anemia
- Only medical option left to him was a bone marrow transplant - but this requires a matching donor
- Admin worker Leah McDougall, 29, meanwhile signed herself up for donor list
- Doctors found the pair to be a '10 out of 10' match and could complete transplant
- They finally had a tearful meeting at a gala for blood cancer charity DKMS
This is the beautiful moment a father finally met the complete stranger who saved his life.
James O'Donnell, 43, from Manchester, was left in floods of tears when he and his family were joined by Leah McDougall onstage at a gala for blood cancer charity DKMS.
It was Leah's bone marrow donation two years before that saved James from a life-threatening condition.
Fighting back tears in front of a live audience, James described Leah as 'a real-life superhero' for making the decision to become a donor.
'Superheroes save lives and that's what you've done. With people like you and a charity like DKMS we can get more people to do it (donate), we can save a lot more lives and kids like mine have their dads see them grow up.'
Leah, equally a tearful as James and his family, replied 'It's amazing to help you under such unfortunate circumstances,' before receiving cheers from the audience.
James O'Donnell, 43, fights back tears as his life-saving donor Leah McDougall hugs his wife during a gala event for the blood cancer charity DKMS
But in 2016, time was running out for James, after the usually healthy father of one was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a blood disorder similar to leukaemia where he bone marrow was not producing enough white blood cells.
Usual treatments weren't working for him, and instead he had to undergo a weekly blood transfusion in his battle against multiple infections.
He was left terrified by the thought of not being able to see his son Harrison, now eight, grow up.
In 2016, time was running out for James, after the usually healthy father of one was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a blood disorder similar to leukaemia where he bone marrow was not producing enough white blood cells
With few options left, James needed to find a donor for a bone marrow transplant to help rebuild his immune system.
He suffered further disappointing news when tests on his three siblings revealed none were a match, so the waiting game to find a suitable donor began.
But luckily for him, hope was only on the other side of the M62 - in the form of Liverpool Council admin worker Leah McDougall.
Leah, a 29-year-old mum from Bootle, had recently made the decision to register herself as a potential stem cell donor, organised by blood cancer charity DKMS.
'We were so lucky to find a donor only about 25 miles away. Some people never find one and we had one on our doorstep,' he said
On a March day in 2017, James got a call to say: 'We have got a perfect match, a 10 out of 10.'
The operation was a success and after four weeks doctors told James the new bone marrow cells were taking effect.
He told the ECHO: 'We were so lucky to find a donor only about 25 miles away. Some people never find one and we had one on our doorstep.'
'It was the second best moment of my life after my son being born.
Describing the moment she met James and his family at the DKMS Gala, she said: 'We were both speechless. When I walked on stage we were just hugging each other for ages.
'It is weird, we felt like we had known each other for years, I felt like I had known him my whole life.'
Most watched News videos
- Shocking scenes at Dubai airport after flood strands passengers
- Despicable moment female thief steals elderly woman's handbag
- A Splash of Resilience! Man braves through Dubai flood in Uber taxi
- Shocking moment school volunteer upskirts a woman at Target
- Chaos in Dubai morning after over year and half's worth of rain fell
- Shocking scenes in Dubai as British resident shows torrential rain
- Murder suspects dragged into cop van after 'burnt body' discovered
- 'Inhumane' woman wheels CORPSE into bank to get loan 'signed off'
- Prince William resumes official duties after Kate's cancer diagnosis
- Shocking footage shows roads trembling as earthquake strikes Japan
- Prince Harry makes surprise video appearance from his Montecito home
- Appalling moment student slaps woman teacher twice across the face