Family in bid to find mum’s Polish stem cell donor for second transfusion

A Scottish family are searching for an anonymous stem cell donor in Poland who saved their mum’s life – in the hope that he can provide blood for a second transfusion.

Lisa Semple, 58, from Gourock, was treated for leukaemia last year with a stem cell transplant from a teenager who donated his cells on 13 October 2025.

Her four children were all tested for a donation but none of them were a perfect match so the hospital had to find and rely on a matched unrelated donor.

Now her family have said her best chance of a full recovery is a donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) but the donor registry has been unable to find the 19-year-old who previously donated his cells.

A DLI is a post-stem cell transplant procedure where healthy white blood cells from the original donor are infused into the bloodstream.

However as the donor is unrelated to the family, they are now relying on the anonymous teenager to contact the registry.

“All we know is that he has not responded to inquiries from the registry,” Lisa’s youngest child Charlie, 21, told BBC Scotland News.

Stem cell donors join the the DKMS, an international charity and the UK’s largest stem cell register, which also operates in Poland, Germany, Chile, India and South Africa, anonymously.

The DKMS said anonymity was important to provide protection for both donors and patients.

Charlie said the family did not want to know who the teenager was but whether he wanted to give blood again.

“It’s completely up to him what he wants to do and whether he would want to donate again,” he said.

“All we want is for him to respond to the registry.”

‘A wee setback for us’

There are several reasons why the 19-year-old could have not been back in touch, such as a one-off donation or a change of address or phone number.

The family said they had contacted the British Embassy in Poland.

Charlie said he and his siblings had also posted an appeal on social media with the hope that a family member or friend of the donor could match up the dates and contact the teenager.

“My mum had a hard recovery because she went through chemotherapy and we all had to isolate from her while her immune system strengthened again,” he said.

He said it was tough to find out he and his siblings were not a match and would not be able to help their mum. They had presumed it would be straightforward because they are related.

“We’re getting back to normal and my mum is back at home but this is a wee setback for us,” he said.

“It is hard to see her so stressed at the moment about not knowing what is going to happen next and whether or not she will make a full recovery.

“We would be completely over the moon if we could find the donor and she could have the blood transfusion.”

DKMS UK and Poland said in a joint statement: “Everyone at DKMS is deeply saddened by the difficult situation Lisa and her family are facing.

“Our thoughts are with them during what is undoubtedly an extremely challenging time.

“We understand that they are seeking answers, and hoping to reconnect with the donor who made Lisa’s initial transplant possible.”

The charity said it could not comment on individual cases but “always makes every reasonable effort to contact matching donors to share requests for a further donation”.

It added that there were occasions when individuals were unable to, or choose not to, proceed and their decision to step back should be respected.