Years after signing up to be a bone marrow donor, this woman was finally matched with a transplant patient—and she couldn’t believe who it was for.
Back in 2017, Mya Linklater signed up to the Anthony Nolan register, a charity that was set up in 1974 by Shirley Nolan to create the world’s first stem cell register. As of 2024, they had over 909,000 potential donors who can be called upon to donate their bone marrow or blood stem cells for lifesaving transplants.
Eight years after signing up, Linklater, 24, was stunned when she received an email in May 2025 to notifying her that she was a potential match for a patient on the list. Having been on the register for so long, Linklater, of Aberdeen, Scotland, wondered if she’d ever actually need to help.
But when she finally got the opportunity, she told Newsweek that she felt “really excited” to save a life.
“I filled in a medical update form and then a medical examiner came to my house to collect a blood sample to ensure that I was the perfect donor,” Linklater said.
Everything came back clear, and she was given the go ahead to donate her bone marrow. She was curious to find out more about the patient she was donating for, and that’s when she learned that it was for a young baby with leukemia.
Learning that made the process even more rewarding, as she could give this baby a shot at a fulfilling life.
Soon after, she was on a 2-hour flight from Scotland to London for a preliminary medical appointment before proceeding with the all-important surgery in June.
“It’s a surgical procedure done under general anesthetic where doctors extract liquid marrow containing stem cells from the back of your pelvic bone, using a needle and syringe,” Linklater told Newsweek.
Bone marrow donation is used to obtain blood-forming cells (stem cells) to help someone with blood cancer or a blood disorder. Bone marrow is the liquid tissue in the center of certain bones, and it makes more than 200 billion new blood cells every day, according to The Cleveland Clinic.
Unfortunately, approximately 18,000 people are told every year that they have a bone marrow disease which requires a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. While 30 percent of people in need of a donor can find a match within their immediate family, 70 percent of patients need donors from a register.
People in the U.S. can register for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) by attending a donor center or requesting an at-home test kit. Not everyone can be a donor, as certain conditions (such as HIV, cancer, diabetes and heart disease) will disqualify people, and being over the age of 60.
While millions of people around the world are registered donors, there is still an overwhelming shortage. That’s why Linklater decided to document the entire process to raise awareness and encourage others in the U.K. to join the Anthony Nolan register too.
She then shared the video on her TikTok account (@myalinklater) in June, and it’s gone viral with over 733,00 views and more than 112,600 likes at the time of writing.
“The online response has been absolutely crazy. I have been inundated with kind and warm messages, and so many people love that I shared my story and have now joined the register themselves,” Linklater continued.
“The process is so rewarding, and I cannot emphasize how important it is to go and join the register.”
Following the bone marrow harvesting, Linklater said she felt “slight discomfort,” but she was perfectly fine overall. She was back on her feet in no time and felt incredibly proud of herself for giving a young child a second chance at life.
After sharing her experience online, many TikTok users praised Linklater for using her social media platform in such a positive way, and others thanked her for being so transparent. This has led to more than 2,500 comments on the viral post so far.
To her delight, many people said they joined the register as a result of her video.
One comment reads: “As a mom whose baby had a bone marrow transplant which saved his life, thank you.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “now this is influencing.”
Another person added: “A truly incredible thing to do. Thank you for sharing your experience, Mya.”
While one commenter replied: “Just joined because of your video!”
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The post I Flew to London to Donate My Bone Marrow, Then I Discovered Who It Was For appeared first on Newsweek.
