Photo: Cedars-Sinai / Good News Network
A nine-year-old boy in California donated his stem cells to save his father from leukemia.
Nick Mondek was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2022. He was treated with stem cell injection from his older brother.
Mondek went into remission, but the cancer came back quickly and needed another stem cell donation as soon as possible.
After not finding a match on the National Bone Marrow Registry, Mondek asked his doctors if its possible for his son, Stephen, to donate his stem cells.
Stephen naturally shares half-matched DNA to his father, making his stem cells more effective to fight off the cancer cells.
After 6 hours of blood cycling, the stem cells were collected and Mondek was able to recover in the hospital with the injection. After 6 weeks of care, Mondek was back home with his family.
Mondek said, "He donated six million stem cells to save my life, so it’s not just an honor to call him my son, I’m proud to call him my hero."
Source: Good News Network