Stem cell donors can bring a companion with them to collection, and Julian (r) invited his brother Tylee. The two watched shows and chatted with the staff as Julian donated stem cells to save a life.
While scrolling through Instagram in March 2020, Julian saw one of Gift of Life’s ads asking people aged 18 – 35 to join the marrow registry.
“When I saw it, I said to myself ‘I’m in that age range’ and I clicked onto the Instagram link and ordered a kit,” said Julian. “I thought that it would be a really interesting opportunity to help people in curing cancer. I always want to give back to my community. Any way that I can help is really intriguing to me.”
Julian’s kit arrived a few days after he ordered it and he did the cheek swab which a few minutes. He then sent it back in the included postage-paid envelope.
In August 2022, Julian received a call from a Boca Raton phone number. It was Gift of Life telling him he had matched with a 56-year-old man battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
“It was very exciting on my end to be a potential match, I was all for it,” said Julian. “They explained that they would need to run some additional blood work and do a physical to verify that I was a match and that I was healthy enough to donate. I was a little anxious about it, I have a fear of needles, but I understood that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to personally assist someone and cure their cancer. I was more honored than anything. My fears were easy for me to tackle and I was so in.”
Immediately after his phone call with Gift of Life, Julian told his mother and brothers that he had matched.
“She was over the moon that I was a match and was telling everyone,” said Julian. “I’d be surprised if people didn’t know I had matched!”
After his physical exam confirming he was healthy enough to donate and a blood test confirming his Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) were a match, Julian and his brother Tylee were flown to Boca Raton, Fla. by Gift of Life. Travel, a meal stipend, and a hotel stay were provided by the organization.
“Gift of Life made the experience so comfortable for me and my brother, who accompanied me on my donation trip,” said Julian. “I felt like I got some kind of royal treatment.”
On the day of his donation, a car service brought Julian and Tylee to the Adelson Collection Center.
“My collection took about four-and-a-half hours,” said Julian. “We were into the show Westworld at that point, so I was so glad there was an HBO subscription. We finished the last few episodes and, in between, chatted with the collection center staff. They checked on me regularly and gave us some snacks and got us Cheesecake Factory for lunch!”
Julian feels more complete having donated peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) to help save someone’s life.
“Donating really put into perspective how lucky I have been to be so healthy and how amazing modern medicine is to be able to spread [my] health with others who need it.” Being a mixed-race person, Julian encourages others to join the registry if able.
“There’s so many kinds of mixed-race people, so many intricacies,” said Julian. “That’s why I urged my brothers to join the registry, and they swabbed when I came back from Florida. I think if you are part of a minority group, you already know what it’s like to not have access to a lot of things in life. Being an HLA match for someone else means that the two of you have similar backgrounds, and it’s important for people to support others, especially if they’re in your community. I think that’s important to recognize. Everyone, but especially mixed-race and minority peoples, should get on the registry.”
Julian, 23, is a student at West Chester University and is currently living in Norwood, Pa. He currently works as a receptionist at a veterinary office while training to become a veterinary technician. In his free time, Julian enjoys playing piano and ukulele and watching plays at the theatre.
Julian's swab kit was sponsored by the Steps for Life 5k Donor Circle.