Donation advocates hope the now-widespread availability of cheek swab testing will encourage more young people from all ethnic backgrounds to become donors. Registering, previously only available via a blood draw, is now as simple as returning the cotton swab sample by mail, resulting in a potential match for a current or future patient. Usman donated through a process similar to giving blood. He returned to work the next day, while Javeria sat with Ismaeel as the stem cells were administered via his chest. “I was just holding him on my lap as the cells went in,” she said. “The procedure itself was quite uneventful.” It was also a success. Ismaeel is now an active 10-year-old who loves soccer and basketball, and regularly tops his class. He will probably receive fortnightly antibody infusions from donated blood plasma for the rest of his life, but his parents, from Sydney’s west, hope he won’t need another transplant, though there’s always the chance.