'Once weeks from death, a miracle transplant's let me travel the world'

A cancer patient once given four weeks to live is enjoying his miraculous second life … by visiting 80 different countries in just six years. When active 18 year-old Abraham Treuhaft, of Salford, Greater Manchester, had the bombshell 2017 aggressive blood cancer ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia) diagnosis, he had no idea if he would survive.

A stem cell donor search was launched while four rounds of chemo and radiotherapy at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester kept the cancer at bay. In Israel, donor Roy Horn was found to be a 10-out-of-10 genetic stem cell match for Abraham - just two years older, fit and healthy - but for the next two years Abraham's body fought to reject the donor cells.

At one point Abraham was warned he only had four weeks to live but slowly his body started to accept the gift and gradually by 2019 his health recovered enough for him to later jet to Israel to meet his saviour Roy.

And since then Abraham, 26, has caught up on lost time making new memories by marrying sweetheart Jade and visiting 80 different countries - almost half the planet.

He told the Daily Express: "This might sound strange but getting cancer is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

"It’s made me who I am. The experience has helped me relate to, and better understand, the kids I work with, and they respect me more because they know what I’ve been through.

"Since I got a second chance of life I have wanted to see the world and make memories so I’ve visited 80 countries since 2019 as north as Norway and east as Japan, along with having amazing experiences in countries such as Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Guatemala and Brazil to name but a few.

"I also got married to my wife, Jade, last year. I want to live every day to the fullest and look forward to sharing my future with her."

In all Abraham has visited 80 countries - from Oman to India, El Salvador to Iceland, Seychelles to Botswana - and including UAE, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Zambia and Morocco.

He has even set up a YouTube channel so people can follow his extraordinary global adventures, called 'Avrumie Treuhaft Travel'.

Abraham was diagnosed with ALL when aged 18, and at a college in the North East of England. Fit and healthy, he could run 10k in 40 minutes and had just got back from a trip to Italy and his mother had prepared a homecoming dinner.

But she noticed his skin was yellow and when he climbed the stairs he felt dizzy. At first Abraham thought it was a virus, but tests confirmed it was a blood cancer which starts in the bone marrow's white blood cells.

He was referred to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester where a stem cell transplant was recommended and an international search for a donor began.

While waiting to see if a match could be found, Abraham was given four rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"Nothing prepares you for such events," Abraham explained, who suffered badly from the side-effects of the chemotherapy drug: "It’s a difficult journey.

"Losing my hair was the most obvious side-effect to anyone who saw me, but in fact that was the least of my concerns.

"From the tips of my toes to the top of my head, there wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t affected by the cancer and gave me pain.

"Cancer turns your life upside down and everything completely changes. It’s an enormous challenge but you can survive."

After four and a half months a donor was found who was a match for Abraham. He was in Israel, and like Abraham, Jewish and just two years older.

There are 10 basic genetic markers that medics look for to find the right donor and Roy Horn, then aged 20, had all of them - a 10/10 match.

Yet despite the transplant working, Abraham’s body tried to reject Roy's stem cells for two years even with anti-rejection drugs - at one point doctors warned him he only had four weeks to live.

But fortunately and slowly, his body began to accept the stem cells and his health was restored.

Although in the UK donors and recipients can meet after two years, Abraham wanted to wait a further year to be sure the transplant was successful before flying to Israel to meet the man who saved his life.

His donor Roy Horn told us: "When I signed up to the be a stem cell donor I don’t think I truly realised the significance of saving someone’s life. It was amazing to meet Abraham and quite emotional to be honest.

"When we met and found we had so much in common it really brought it home to me what I’d done for a complete stranger, and it felt good.

"Abraham is such a lovely guy, and I’m so pleased I could help him. We’ll always stay in touch now. If you also join the stem cell register, you could also give a blood cancer patient a new lease of life."

The Love Hope Strength Foundation works in partnership with blood cancer charity DKMS to get more people in the UK to sign up to the stem cell register. DKMS holds the UK’s biggest register of potential stem cell donors.

The foundation was set up by Mike Peter's from 1980s Welsh punk rock band The Alarm and wife Jules after his own struggles battling aggressive cancer saw him earlier this year face NHS CAR-T immunotherapy treatment at The Christie.

The 65 year-old is now recovering back home in North Wales.

Anyone who orders a swab kit via the Love Hope Strength website goes onto the DKMS register, and are looked after all the way by DKMS if they are found to be a compatible match for someone needing a stem cell transplant.

Love Hope Strength chair, Jules Peters said: "We love hearing stories about the friendships and bonds that build between donors and their recipients. Abraham and Roy’s story is so inspiring.

"Being a donor is an extraordinarily altruistic thing to do. You could be someone’s ‘One in a Million’ and give the gift of life.

"To know you have given someone their life back is incredibly rewarding. At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant so the more people we can get on the register the better.

"Sadly someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer every 20 minutes yet currently we can only find a match for about 60 per cent of patients needing a stem cell transplant.

"Becoming a donor is so easy. You just order a free cheek swab from the comfort of your own home, and send it back to us with your sample to get on the register.

"Please do it today as it might be a member of your family or a friend who needs a stem cell transplant in the future."

Anyone between 17 and 55 years can be added to the stem cell register once they’ve answered a few health questions to ensure they’re cleared to donate.

More details of how to order a swab kit online are here. In 90% of cases, if a donor on the register is found to be a match, stem cells are collected directly from the bloodstream in a procedure that’s similar to giving blood.

The collected stem cells are transplanted to the patient in a procedure similar to a blood transfusion.

Blood cancers are the fifth most common type of cancer, with more than 12 million new cases diagnosed worldwide every year.

They are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK with nearly 13,000 people dying from blood cancer in the UK every year.

Donate to the Love Hope Strength Foundation and help those affected by blood cancer. To order a swab kit click on this link http://dkms.org.uk/lhs_24