A man with a rare form of blood cancer has traveled 10,000 miles to meet a stranger that saved his life.

31-year-old Luke Mailing of Melbourne, Australia, says he was “staring at the face” before receiving a stem-cell transplant from Alestair Hocken, Grantham, Lincolnshire.

The match between the pair was so correct that men believe that they could belong to a distance, as both their families were Preston, Lancashire – the city from which they had chosen for their emotional first meeting.

They are sharing their story to encourage more people to join NHS Stem Sale Donor Registry.

Three years ago, Luke, who was then 28 years old, was strict ill in the hospital with Hodgkin lymphoma.

He was living with this condition since the age of 16 and despite being in exemption four times, the cancer continued to return.

After finishing all other treatments, they were told that they need a transplant of stem cells – which can be found in the bone marrow and can produce blood cells required to survive.

But there was no match in his family, and in Australia, so doctors began searching for a global stem-cell registries for a donor.

“It was very much liked,” this is – this is the only option you have. It is either it or you are going to die “,” Luke says.

“To find out that my sister was not a match – we didn’t know if anyone would be registered who would be a suitable match for me.”

But then, after waiting for six months, Luke was told that hope. The register discovered a potential donor on the other side of the world.

“When we came to know that we had the right match, it was an emotional moment,” Luke remembers. “I remember Mam – she was in hysterics, crying.”

For Alastair, then 48, phone calls came out of blue. A regular blood donor, he signed the NHS registry in 2008.

When asked if he was still ready to donate, the father did not hesitate three.

“It was no problem,” they say. “What can I do, where can I be? It was good, or to feel that I can use it for someone.”

Prior to donation, Alastair was injected with a high strength cell-generating medicine. After a few days he could barely move forward, but he was told that it was shown that the process was working and the body was “over-generating stem cell”.

He then went to a hospital for stem cells in a process similar to blood donation, while he was fed snacks and watched television.

“There is no inconvenience,” they say. “Stem cells are taken out and packed, and then they are counted in the laboratory – 85 million is what we needed for luke, and that was taken.

“I wondered – my body was made of fresh stem cell – and then my (Kati) stem cell went on her journey.”

Cryogenic was frozen within hours to send cells to Australia, where the luke was waiting.

Luke had his own transplant after a month, but he knew about the donor that he was a 48 -year -old British man.

They were not allowed to contact Alastair until two years have passed and treatment was considered successful.

At that time, Alastair did not know whether Luke had survived or not.

“I just hoped. I expected and prayed that he had,” he says.

And then an email fell into his inbox through Stem Sale Registry.

“It was as if all my Christmas came at one time,” Alastair recalls. “It was a really beautiful moment.”

The men were kept in contact with each other and finally met in Preston on Friday.

Luke told Alastair: “For a person like you, who is very beautiful, cute and kind, doing all this, I am happy that it is your cells. I can’t thank you just thanks you enough.”

For its share, Alastair, who runs a gingerbread business, describes the donation as its “heritage”.

He said to Luke: “If I do not achieve anything more than seeing that smile on your face, I have achieved everything that I need to achieve.”

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