'Beneficiary Appears 8 Years After Donation Application' Gwangju Sports Council Employee Practicing Life Sharing

Kim Younghak, Gwangju City Sports Council Officer, Donates 'Hematopoietic Stem Cells'

Kim Young-hak, a chief of the Mudeung team at the Gwangju Metropolitan City Sports Council, donated hematopoietic stem cells to a critically ill patient diagnosed with myelofibrosis, spreading warmth in the local community.

According to the Gwangju Sports Council on the 21st, after applying to donate hematopoietic stem cells, Kim Young-hak received a notification in April 2023, eight years later, that a genetically matched recipient had been found, and he agreed to donate.

Kim Young-hak, a staff member of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Sports Council who donated hematopoietic stem cells, is smiling brightly.

The recipient was a patient diagnosed with myelofibrosis. Thanks to Kim’s consistent physical training since registering as a donor, the health checkups and other procedures went smoothly.

Following a health examination in January, he was administered hematopoietic stem cell stimulants from the 16th to the 18th of this month. Subsequently, on the 19th, he was hospitalized and underwent peripheral hematopoietic stem cell collection before donating.

He has been regularly participating in blood donations since high school. In 2016, at the Gwangju Blood Donation Center, after hearing an official explain that “a single hematopoietic stem cell donation can save a life,” he immediately registered as a hopeful donor on the spot.

Hematopoietic stem cells are progenitor cells in the bone marrow that replicate and differentiate to produce blood cells such as white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. The probability of a non-relative matching tissue compatibility antigens is only about 0.005%.

Kim Young-hak said, “Donation is a life-sharing act of giving a part of myself, and I hope more people will muster a little courage to participate in donation,” adding, “I sincerely hope the patient who received the donation recovers health as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, Kim Young-hak has been steadily engaged in social service activities through the Honam Club of the Bright Society International Club Korea Headquarters, a private organization serving as a special advisor to the UN Economic and Social Council. His son has also been recognized with a silver medal for blood donation merit due to his regular blood donations to help neighbors, and his daughter is part of a donating family as well, having donated hair she grew for eight years since the third grade of elementary school through the ‘Eomeona Movement Headquarters’ to children undergoing chemotherapy who suffer from stress due to hair loss.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.