Wu Jia donates her stem cells at the hospital. [Chinanews.com/Han Zhangyun]

A 26-year-old woman from the city of Kaifeng, central China's Henan Province, donated her stem cellsat a local hospital on April 18, to help a young boy in Argentina who is suffering from a serious blood condition.

Officials of the Red Cross Society of China Henan Branch said it was the first time that a participant from the China Marrow Donor Program had donated stem cells to a patient in the South American country.

The donor, Wu Jia, told reporters that she joined the program in 2013, and was excited to have the opportunity to help another person.

In November 2015, she received a notice from the Red Cross Society of China Henan Branch that her cells had successfully matched with a patient from Argentina. She said the probability of matching stem cells was extremely low, and she did a series of physical examinations without any hesitation.

Wu attended the hospital on her own. She explained that her father passed away due to disease last year, and she was afraid that her mother would worry, so she underwent the procedure alone.

Wu said she hoped the foreign boy could return to health soon and have a bright future.

The patient needed to receive the stem cells as soon as possible, so they were quickly delivered to Argentina by air by a volunteer courier – who set off on a trip which takes over 40 hours.

Statistics show that there are around 107,000 volunteer donors on file at the Red Cross Society of China Henan Branch. Around 540 of them have donated. The province has the highest number of donors across the nation.

A group photo of Wu Jia (L) and the international courier. [Chinanews.com/Han Zhangyun]

(Source: Chinanews.com/Translated and edited by Women of China)

By Han ZhangyunEditor: Jane Wang