Man meets German stem cell donor 10 years later
FRANKLIN TWP — Tobias Jost went two years not knowing if his “unknown friend” had survived; unsure if the stem cells extracted from his blood stream on Nov. 29, 2016, made the trans-Atlantic flight from Germany to Pittsburgh, where a leukemia patient was waiting.
It took another six years before he would meet the recipient of his donated stem cells, Tim Lefever, of Franklin Township, who traveled to Germany in May to finally meet the person who saved his life.
Their meeting at the Berlin airport was emotional for both families, and the next 10 days in Germany were a Euro-tour filled with affectionate activity.
“It just was extremely emotional, he literally saved his life,” said Tim Lefever’s wife, Candy Lefever. “We met his parents, his wife, his child. They had picnics for us, barbecues.”
Jost, of Wolmirstedt, Germany, was in his early 20s when he registered to be in the national stem cell database. He learned that finding a patient with needs that matched his own stem cells would be as likely as winning the lottery. In an email to the Lefevers prior to their visit, Jost said he was happy his simple act saved a life.
“It took me only 90 minutes for the donation,” Jost wrote. “You see, it was no big deal for me, but saving someone’s life this easily is unbelievable.”
Tim Lefever said Jost’s courtesy while his family visited Germany was endless, even though he had already made a hefty donation of his stem cells.
“He was trying to buy all the time when we went out, and he said, 'Well, you're invited.' I said, ‘I don't care that we're invited, you saved my life,’” Lefever said. “I wanted to at least thank him because he saved my life.”
Tim Lefever received his stem cell transplant in 2014 after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2013, when he was 48 years old.
Tim Lefever said being diagnosed with that type of cancer is rare for adults his age, because it normally affects people as children or when they pass age 70. His doctor recognized that Tim was probably going to need stem cells to fight the cancer.
“He said right off the bat I was going to need a transplant, because my marrow was making the cancer,” Tim Lefever said.
Tim Lefever received cancer treatment right away, which was relatively successful, although a transplant was still necessary. He said that although some of his friends at the time were happy to donate stem cells, their ages meant the cells would likely not be as viable compared to a person in their 20s or younger.
He wound up on a wait list for stem cells until 2014, when he learned he had a match.
“I was in it even the first (round of treatments) but they didn't find anyone who could match. There was a woman who was an OK match, but she had children so it wasn't guaranteed,” Tim Lefever said.
When he finally went in for the stem cell transplant, Tim Lefever was surprised at how quickly the process went.
“Two women came from Germany with a little Igloo cooler, with a bag not even as big as the one we give blood in, and it was the stem cells,” Lefever said. “They came in at 11 o'clock at night, handed them to the nurse and she hooked it up to my tubes and she was done in no time... it was basically a blood transfusion.”
The process was equally fast for Jost, who said he went to a hospital and underwent a process similar to donating blood.
Tim Lefever’s recovery time, however, was a little more brutal. He spent about a month in the hospital.
“My body had what was called graph vs. host disease,” Tim Lefever said. “My body still fought against it even though he was a perfect match. I was on antirejection medication which basically means you have no immune system because it's trying to get your body to stop fighting.”
Despite the long recovery process, Tim Lefever’s doctors told him remission was unlikely if he made it five years posttransfusion with no more symptoms.
Now, Tim and Candy Lefever advocate for people to not only donate stem cells, but to donate blood, because the latter was how Tim Lefever was diagnosed.
“I was a blood donor and that's how they found out I had cancer in the first place,” Tim Lefever said.
Candy Lefever said her family went to Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Meissen, Wolmirstedt and Kuhlungsborn along the Baltic Sea during their trip, which lasted 12 days - 10 spent entirely in Germany.
It was their first time in the country, and their first time in Europe. Candy Lefever said that while they tried to learn to speak a little German prior to the trip, Jost was the perfect tour guide. With him, there was no language barrier whatsoever, because he spoke English well, with “a wee bit of an accent.”
Candy Lefever said the meeting with Jost was a long time coming, because his initial trip to the U.S. was thwarted by COVID.
“He was supposed to come over here in August of 2020, and of course, COVID, and he was not able to come. Since then he has gotten married and had a baby, so we decided we were going to go over there,” Candy Lefever said. “It was a fantastic trip.”
Tim Lefever has a penchant for history, which Germany has plenty of, so the family’s international travels involved a lot of visits to museums and sites. He also said the food was a highlight of the trip.
After 10 days with Jost and his family, the two families became as close as one, Tim Lefever said.
“His son calls me ‘Opa,’ which means ‘old man,’” Tim Lefever said. “It’s like I was his grandfather.”
The Lefevers still keep in touch with Jost, with both Tim and Candy having his cell phone number in their contacts. Candy Lefever said Jost plans to eventually visit the U.S. and always has a place to stay in Butler County.
Jost was already excited to meet his stem cell recipient even before he knew anything about the person who got the transplant.
“I’m so glad that after this long time we have the chance to correspond and get to know each other,” Jost wrote in an email to the Lefevers.
