Police officer meets boy whose life he saved through stem cell donation

PC Luke Bugdol made the selfless gesture in 2019, which benefited 11-year-old American lad James Benzel.

Donating stem cells remains an anonymous act unless the recipient agrees to meet the donor - and the pair were able to meet at a gala event in London held by blood cancer charity DKMS.

Rotherham response officer Luke said: “Walking up onto the stage during the celebration evening, I knew I would be filled with emotion.

“Seeing James, standing there, I knew that he was the true hero, he was the one that had lived and breathed fighting off this horrendous disease.

“I never knew if I would meet the recipient of my stem cells, for me, it was doing what needed to be done to save someone’s life, regardless of who they are, or where they live.”

It was two years after he signed up that Luke received a call to say a match had been found. On February 4, 2019, he attended a hospital in London to have his stem cells extracted under general anaesthetic.

There followed a couple of weeks recovery before the PC was back on duty - and knowing he was making a difference to someone on the other side of the Atlantic as well as serving the public in Rotherham.

“I joined the register after a colleague died from cancer,” said Luke. “Me and another colleague were talking during a shift and at the end of the shift, as soon as I got home, I signed up.

“Registering was really easy. I registered online and was sent a swab kit. I swabbed the inside of my mouth and sent it back in a pre-paid envelope. That was it, as easy as that.

“It’s then something you don’t think about, but you know that should you be a match, you will be called upon, and have the ability to make a difference to someone suffering.”

After coming face-to-face with James and his mum Karen at the charity event in May, Luke is now encouraging more people to sign up as donors and potentially make a similar difference to someone’s life.

“To be able to do this for somebody is a privilege,” he said. “To be somebody’s match could be a one in a million chance, you could be that one person that makes all the difference.”

PC Bugdol is registered with DKMS - one of the many organisations you can sign up to that are all linked to the British Bone Marrow Registry. Find out more information by visiting the NHS Blood and Transplant at www.nhsbt.nhs.uk.

The force praised Luke, with a spokesperson saying: “It takes bravery, courage, and compassion to be a police officer and an innate desire to protect and better the lives of strangers.

“This passion doesn’t stop for some officers as their shift ends, and for PC Bugdol this desire led him on this journey to donate his stem cells to a child suffering from cancer.”