Appeal to Salzburg

Schoolgirl (17) launches campaign for leukemia patients

Lena-Marie , Sara and Malisa are hoping for active participation from Salzburg residents on April 11.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Saving lives - Salzburg residents who register as stem cell donors can do just that. Lena-Marie Gassner (17) is calling for this.

The probability of finding a suitable donor is one in 500,000, which is how small the chance is for people with leukemia to receive suitable, foreign stem cells. A 17-year-old schoolgirl is now taking action herself. "Patients only have a chance of survival if lots of people register," says Lena-Marie Gassner. That's why she went to the director of the Caritas School for Business and Social Affairs in Salzburg.

17 to 45-year-olds are eligible
She wanted to organize a typing campaign at her school, the 17-year-old explained to Helmut Bitschnau. "We are happy to do that. We are proud of such a committed student," says Bitschnau. And so on Thursday, April 11 from 11 am to 2 pm, volunteers aged 17 to 45 can take part in the campaign in Eduard-Heinrich-Straße in Salzburg-Süd. A cheek swab is enough to be added to the Leukemia Relief Austria donor registry.

Annett Neumann survived thanks to foreign stem cells.(Bild: zVg)

Those registered can still decide later whether or not to actually donate. Annett Neumann experienced for herself just how valuable the willingness to donate is. Stem cells from a 21-year-old man saved the life of the 53-year-old from Klosterneuburg. "I was very touched that such a young person was aware that he could save a life," says Neumann.

"I was extremely lucky"
Her life was "slowed down from 100 to zero" by the leukemia diagnosis, as she says. A year of chemotherapy was unsuccessful and she got worse and worse. Without healthy stem cells, the dental assistant would not have survived. "I was extremely lucky," she says today. It has now been two years since the stem cell transplant and Annett Neumann is taking small steps back "on the road to normality".