Donor

 

Seri Rahayu Binte Othman

Rahayu and Redzuan have donated cord blood on behalf on each of their seven children, with the most recent donation being in 2017. This makes the couple the only seven-time SCBB donors!

The couple first heard about cord blood donation when Rahayu was approached by an SCBB Donor Coordinator at the hospital during her first pregnancy. Upon learning about the importance of ethnicity in locating a stem cell transplant match and the urgent need to locate unrelated cord blood transplant matches for patients with serious blood diseases; the couple was strongly motivated to help.

Explaining why she and her husband decided to donate cord blood, Rahayu says “We did not see the need to keep the cord blood for ourselves. We also do not lose out by donating our babies’ cord blood. More importantly, it is life-saving and would benefit those who have an urgent need.”

Knowing that the public inventory of donated cord blood units is a precious resource accessible to the community, the couple continued to champion the cause by donating the cord blood of all their other six children. Rahayu remarked “If it can save someone’s life, then why not donate?”