Help Kriti Get Second Chance at Life by Registering as Potential Blood Stem Cell Donor.
Ranchi, 22/07/2025: Kriti, a 27-year-old girl from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, urgently needs our help. Just after she turned 13, Kriti was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
After struggling to live a normal life with other therapies like medicines, she is now in a critical stage where a stem cell transplant is her only chance at survival. That will only be possible if she finds a matching blood stem cell donor.
As per Dr. Dinesh Bhurani, Director, Department of Haemato-oncology & Bone Marrow Transplantation, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, “In India, every 5 minutes someone is diagnosed with a form of blood cancer or other blood disorder. Many patients cannot survive without a life-saving stem cell donation, and the search for a donor is the start of a race against time. The faster a suitable donor is found, the better the chances of survival for patients, as in the case of Kriti. Patients and donors of Indian origin have unique HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) characteristics, which makes the probability of finding a suitable donor even more difficult as Indians are severely under-represented in the in the global database This increases the need for more people of Indian ethnicity to register themselves as a potential stem cell donor and help save a life.”
To help Kriti, DKMS Foundation India, a non-profit organisation dedicated to fighting blood cancer and blood-related disorders, appeals to general public to come forward and register to become a blood stem cell donor.
“We are committed to saving lives. Patients like Kriti urgently need an unrelated matching donor. It is crucial to understand that only a small number of patients find a match within their families. Unfortunately, in Kriti’s situation, we must rely on finding an unrelated donor. Due to India’s genetic diversity, finding a match is especially challenging. Only 0.09% of the relevant age group in India is registered as a blood stem cell donor. So, through this patient appeal, we want to reach out to everyone between 18 and 50 years of age to come forward and register to be a potential donor”, said Patrick Paul, Chairman, DKMS India.
Adding to the appeal, Kriti said, “While cancer has slowed me down, I am relentless in my search for a matching donor as I want to overcome my health condition. My dream is to become a fashion designer, so I can one day own a boutique that showcases my designs. Like anybody with big dreams and ambition, I have a vision board of things I want to achieve, experience, and accomplish in my life. My parents have taught me to be kind and help anyone who is in need. Today, I seek your help, it just takes five minutes to sign up. Please register, it is a very simple process to help me and other blood cancer patients like me”.
Kriti’s family, who are leaving no stone unturned to save her, says, “Kriti is the charm of our family and a strong person too! Her medicines have weakened her body, but not her fighting spirit. There is a lack of awareness among people about blood stem cell donation, and hence, there aren’t many registered potential donors. None of my family members are an HLA-match for her, so our only option is to find an unrelated donor. We kindly request that people come forward and register as potential blood stem donors, giving Kriti the chance to achieve her dreams. Your small step can give us a lot of hope.”
People who are interested register at: https://www.dkms-india.org/register-now
Any healthy individual between the age group of 18-55 can register by ordering the home swab kit at https://www.dkms-india.org/register-now. When you receive the kit, fill out the given consent form, swab the inside of your cheeks to collect tissue cells, and return the swab kit. The DKMS laboratory will then analyse your tissue type, and it will be available in the global search for blood stem cell donors.
