Ramabele meets Pete
All the way from Texas to South Africa. . .
Pete Johnson from Texas USA registered as a stem cell donor in 1996, the year that Ramabele Tsolo was born in South Africa.
In 2018, Ramabele was a twenty-eight-year-old Civil Engineering graduate when he received a devastating Leukaemia diagnosis. With the lack of black South African stem cell donors on our registry, the chances of finding a match for Ramabele were very slim.
But – through our global outreach, Pete Johnson was identified, and he unhesitatingly donated his stem cells which were flown halfway round the world for Ramabele’s transplant.
Pete and Ramabele met for the first time at an emotional donor-recipient meeting at the World Marrow Donor Association’s annual International Donor Registry Conference in Cape Town in 2024.
“When I saw him, I couldn’t contain myself”, said Ramabele, “because of him I can live my life to the fullest. I can’t thank him enough for his humility and selflessness.” Pete says that he was honoured to do this for Ramabele:
“His life gives me more life and hope. We’re connected forever, not only on a cellular level, he is my family now.”
There’s a critical need for more Black South Africans on our registry. Ethnicity is an important part of stem cell donations. Join our registry to help save more lives.