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The excitement of the Gardella family was palpable as they waited in the arrivals hall at Birmingham Airport for someone they’d never met before but who already meant so much to them.
Finally, they spotted a middle-aged woman wearing an oversized hoodie amongst the passengers arriving from Dusseldorf.
The family instantly recognised Dana Ernst-Behme from her WhatsApp picture and nine-year-old Sofia Gardella took the lead, eagerly approaching their guest and flinging her small arms around her neck. The hug was a long one and Ms Ernst-Behme closed her eyes as she embraced her young host.
This meeting was so special because it was the first time Ms Ernst-Behme met the girl whose life she had likely saved.
Sofia, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, was just two years old when her family discovered she urgently needed a stem cell transplant. She was diagnosed with Congenital Amegakaryocytic Thrombocytopenia (CAMT), a condition that is so rare doctors believe fewer than 100 people in the world have it.
CAMT causes the body to produce a dangerously low number of bone marrow cells, specifically the type needed to make platelets that clot the blood.
Sofia’s medical team scoured the Anthony Nolan stem cell register and found a good genetic match with Ms Ernst-Behme, 52, from Helpsen, Germany. She donated her stem cells from her hometown and they were immediately flown to the UK for Sofia’s life-saving treatment.
Sofia’s mum Claire Gardella said: “I actually saw the cells arrive at the hospital. I was looking out of the window and saw the courier pull up with the box.
“It looked like a bag of blood, but obviously it was a bag of magic cells. That’s what we called it when we explained it to Sofia – a bag of magic.”
Ms Ernst-Behme’s healthy stem cells replaced Sofia’s damaged ones, and she has now made a full recovery.
After five…
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