“Let’s Commend” is a corner in this website that provides warm news about activities performed by the members of Kookmin University.

We have so many “angels of donation” in our university. Among them, we met Lee, Uiri (School of Law), who donated his hematopoietic stem cells to the hematopoietic stem cell bank of Catholic University in March 2012. Hematopoietic cells are mostly contained inside the body’s largest bone marrow and the small part of the cell can be found in the peripheral blood. Because of its cellular functions that play the important role of producing the various cells inside the blood, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has recently been regarded as a unique and excellent treatment method for inherited metabolic disease HSCT, congenital immune deficiency disease and other related diseases. It is said that donating and transplanting the hematopoietic stem cell means giving new life to the patient.

What caused you to decide to participate in a donation campaign the first time?

I have been regularly involved in blood donation for a long time. I have donated blood almost each and every holiday during my military service. So I have been registered as a blood donation member. (Laughs) One day, the staff of the blood donation house, who had been observing my blood donation record, explained the hematopoietic stem cell donation to me. And I immediately registered from that point. I guess my donation involvement became active when Cardinal Stephen Kim, Sou-hwan was suffering from adenomas. It was my pleasure that as a Catholic I had the opportunity to participate in a practical way with such a respected person. ‘Being a soldier’ - it is the most hungry period in your life, isn’t it? (Laughs)

How was your feeling when you got the information that your genes matched with the patients?

It was strange as well as awesome at first. Although I did not feel anything during the registration time, later I had a great feeling that I could donate. There are so many people who worry after hearing of bone marrow donation because they think this donation uses the traditional extraction methods. However, I was not scared but curious because I had already been informed of the simplified procedure of hematopoietic stem cell donation. And I expressed my pride to my neighbors, (laughs) as, “I am an angel without wings, who has extracted and shared his own blood to save the life of another human being”. As I expressed my pride very naturally, I would frequently receive some negative comments, but most of my friends encouraged me.

Hematopoietic stem cells are in fact unfamiliar to everyone. Where do the hematopoietic stem cells exist in the human body and how do they affect the patient?

I don’t know in detail where the hematopoietic stem cells exist in the body. We can speak of it as bone marrow donation in a simplified way. The reason to collect bone marrow is because of the abundant amounts of hematopoietic stem cells which exist in it. The bone marrow collecting method is the surest and most proper method and one in which general anesthesia is less likely to be required. Recently they are collecting the hematopoietic stem cells because they are the most necessary things for the treatment of patients. The collection method begins from 5 days before the exact extraction date by vaccinating the catalysis to make the hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow come into the blood. Although it is called marrow donation, it is a much simpler donation than that of bone marrow. And it is really a necessary element for the patient.

I would like to hear about the donation day.

Each donor will be examined two times to determine compatibility. The first examination is at the registration time (I was examined at the blood donation center), and if the genes match with the patient based on these results, one more examination is done as the second step. The compatibility of the first examination is important, so that’s why it is said that the compatibility in the second phase will be 50/50 rather than falling. So I believed that I would be able to donate with proper compatibility. Since then, I have been given various tests because I would not be able to donate if I were to have some disease. Although the tests are a little annoying, I felt quite good since I thought of it as a complete health examination. (Laugh) I had a 2nd and 3rd health examination because there appeared some suspect possibility of liver function disorder. Because of this problem, I was anxious whether it would give me trouble on donation. So, for this matter I have received the advice from a prominent physician. Finally, it was concluded that there would be no impact on my health. After that I was assured on the inside that I would be able to donate.

If you are asked to choose the most difficult part during the donation procedure what would you say?

Honestly, donation is not hard. It is just donating the blood component for 4 to 5 hours by plugging in 2 needles. The person who has experienced blood donation will find it as simple process. If I had to find something that was the most bothersome, it was during the collection process when I had to endure not being able to go to the toilet, and having to hold my urine. (Laugh) I talked to the nurse, and sweat a lot.

And also, another hard time was getting vaccinated before the whole donation process. Vaccines are the catalyst to make the hematopoietic stem cells to come into the blood. Somehow, there was a sharp pain in the joint of the bones because of hematopoietic stem cells coming from the bone marrow into the blood. They explained that the intensity of pain differs according to the tolerance levels of different people. I was worried since it was said that medicine should be taken for severe pain. But it was more endurable pain than I had imagined. I just thought of it as the growing pains from childhood to peak height.

If you are given one more opportunity to donate, will you donate?

Of course, I will donate if I have another opportunity to do so. It was a really valuable experience. If I do it twice, it will be more valuable, wont it? I asked them whether it is possible to donate one more time; they replied that it is possible to donate again. In case the patient who has been transplanted by my hematopoietic cells is not getting better, I can donate one more time with a simple collection method totally different than previous collection process. I have a good image of donation after donating my hematopoietic cells this time, and I’m also thinking about becoming involved in the campaign of the internal organ donation.

The appearance of giving the gift of health to a patient was really inspiring. Could you please say something to members of Kookmin University who worry about donating blood?

If you haven’t had the experience, try to do it. Be an angel rather than being timid. I think it is our responsibility to save the lives of human beings. Don’t be careless about your responsibilities. In addition, nobody knows what will happen in the future. Sometime you will have the situation where you need to get help from others. In this situation you will get help only if you have possessed this virtue in the past.

I have been able to indirectly feel the joy given by such a beautiful leader through this interview. Lee, Uiri seemed to be overflowing with positive energy throughout the interview. I imagine the seeds of joy given by his small activity and practice changed into positive energy and his life has been changed. It would be great if this article plays the catalytic role in sharing his positive energy and hope with many people.