Local man’s stem cell donation helps stranger across the world

By Kendra Simpson

Seven years ago, Walter May was at an event when he saw an old friend standing at a booth and decided to say hi. Little did he know, this interaction was the first step to saving a life.

The friend was looking for volunteers for the National Marrow Donor Program for bone marrow and stem cells. Walter registered for the program that day.

“I mean, (it was) just something I figured would be a good thing,” he said. “I don’t have certain feelings about it, to be honest with you.”

Walter’s wife, Joy May, said she believes this act to be a bigger sacrifice than he’ll let on.

“He doesn’t think this is a big deal,” Joy said. “But he did a big thing.”

According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, a total of 22,827 Hematopoietic cell transplantation, or HCTs, were performed in the United States in 2022. Of these, 5,073 (22%) were unrelated transplants. Walter is now part of this statistic.

When Walter signed up for the donor program, he figured nothing would come out of it. For seven years, he had heard nothing and actually forgot about it until this past October, when he received a call saying he was a match for a woman in the United Kingdom.

“He talked to the lady and she told him that he had signed up several years ago on this registry,” Joy said. “He couldn’t remember when or even doing it, but he was a match for a woman overseas that needed either his bone marrow or stem cells.”

After several physicals, Walter received the okay and was flown to Seattle to make the donation. Their travel, airfare and hotel were completely paid for by the National Marrow Donor Program.

After his donation, Walter left his mark not only on their donor maps, but also on the life he may have saved.

While he is unable to contact the person he donated his stem cells to, Walter left his information with the donor program in hopes she will someday reach out and let them know how the procedure went.

After their experience, Joy encouraged others to become donors. Through their liaison in Minnesota, they have tried to make more donor registration sites available for midwestern communities.

“I think the take-home for all of this is … it inspired me to try to get more people to get on the registry,” Joy said. “Put yourself out there and see if you are a match for somebody somewhere in the world that you could help.”

“If you can help, help. That’s all,” Walter said. “I mean, bottom line, if you’re able to donate or you’re able to get on the registry, why not? You’re sacrificing time. You could possibly give somebody else time.”

Preferred stem cell and bone marrow donors should be under 40 years old. To register, one only needs to submit a cheek swab sample and some personal information.

To learn more about becoming a bone marrow or stem cell donor, visit the National Marrow Donor Program’s website at bethematch.org.