CeramTec and “Give a Second Chance” – fighting leukaemia together

Someone is diagnosed with leukaemia in Germany every 15 minutes. In Ebnath – located just a few kilometres from Marktredwitz – 6 employees of CeramTec got added to the German Bone Marrow Donor Registry (DKMS) last weekend through the “Give a Second Chance” event. As registered stem cell donors, they are potential lifesavers now.

The objective of DKMS is to encourage as many people as possible to participate in tissue typing so a matching donor can be found quickly when needed. The required determination of the tissue characteristics is carried out painlessly and with a simple cheek swab.

When expressing the search for a matching donor in figures, it becomes clear how important the work of DKMS is: only one third of all leukaemia patients find their matching donor within their family. Every tenth leukaemia patient never finds one.

After CeramTec called for participants at their Marktredwitz plant, the DKMS bone marrow match drive at the Ebnath primary school was a good reason for 6 employees to finally become a potential lifesaver as well: they got added to the registry. The company supports DKMS with a donation for covering the costs for tissue typing, which corresponds to 35 euros per person. When handing over the donation cheque for 1,750 euros – covering the costs of 50 typings – to Mr. Johannes Bauer who organised the “Give a Secon Chance” campaign, Mr. Jürgen Christl, the HR manager of the site, thanked the employees in person.

“We are proud of our employees who are not only involved in the company but also get socially involved,” emphasises Hadi Saleh, CEO CeramTec. “This is why supporting the invaluable work of DKMS means to us both a great joy and a big necessity. Because every life saved is an incomparable success.”

Would you like to learn more about DKMS? Or become a donor yourself? Visit the official website here.