Marius Werner, a German citizen, donated stem cells anonymously to save the life of British doctor Dr Nick Embleton, from Newcastle’s neonatal intensive-care unit, who was suffering from a rare type of blood cancer. With no matching donors available in the UK, the worldwide search led to Marius, who had been on the donor register since his late teens. After the successful transplant, both donor and patient remained anonymous until the transplant was confirmed to have worked.
BBC News and charity Anthony Nolan helped both men to meet each other for the first time. Both men met at Maggie’s Newcastle cancer-support center, at the Freeman Hospital, where Nick had received the transplant. As the two men hugged, Marius said he was very overwhelmed and shook with excitement. Nick, on the other hand, thanked Marius for saving his life and said, “I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. I’ve got four children – they wouldn’t have their dad. I mean, I just really want to say, ‘Thank you.'”
Later, Marius recalls hearing that the transplant had worked and Nick had survived. “After that information, only the tears come,” he said. “I was on the way to my work, and I had to park my car and get out and need fresh air – tears came out.” Marius also revealed that he had previously tried to end his own life, and Nick helped him save himself. “I struggled my whole life since I was 13 with mental issues,” he said. “It’s [been] hard for me to find my way in life – and my sense in life. [Now,] I can say, ‘I did something right.'”
For more than two decades, Nick has helped to save thousands of the world’s smallest patients. But in 2021, he needed a doctor himself. Walking down the hospital corridors, Nick says he “had no idea what was about to unfold.” He also said, “I was fully aware I might die so I made a will. I broke this news to my wife and my kids. I felt saddest for my kids – I didn’t want them to grow up the rest of their lives without their dad.
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