Businessman Mark Ritson had his life saved by a teenage bone marrow donor from Germany – now he has two children and has run the London Marathon. Chris Burn reports.
Mark Ritson will always have a unique bond with Jacqueline Harfmann, the young woman who saved his life from thousands of miles away and without meeting him. Not only does he owe a priceless debt of gratitude, the pair are now ‘genetic twins’ who share the same DNA.
Harfmann, from Germany, twice donated her stem cells to Ritson to help him overcome a rare blood disease after a worldwide search for a donor. Three years after her selfless act, prompted by her seeing a poster asking ‘Why don’t you save someone’s life?’, she travelled to Yorkshire to meet Ritson and his family, including his young daughter Iona and baby son Magnus, in his home city of Sheffield.
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