HYDraUlikPresse - Hydraulic powerhouses - Hansa Flex

PeoPle at HaNsa-FleX FrANk oEttiNg
Show some backbone ,
save a life
A SHort StorY About boNE mArrow doNAtioN
For many people, newpapers are an immutable part of the breakfast ritual. but after that, they are consigned to the wastepaper basket
or used to swat fl ies. but sometimes, a newpaper article can also save a life. in this case, it was an article from 1996 that led directly to a
young woman’s recovery from leukaemia twelve years later.
in march 1996, Frank oetting, who now works for
HANSA-FLEX, read a newspaper article. it was
about a girl who was suffering from leukaemia.
the only thing that could possibly cure her was a
donation of bone marrow. the article prompted the
reader to register with the german bone marrow
donor center (dkmS) in the hope of increasing the
chances of finding a suitable donor for the young
lady. “After i read the article, i thought: You donate
blood already, you can do this as well”, recounts
Frank oetting, now deputy dispatch manager with
HANSA-FLEX. So he rang dkmS up, and a few days
later he received a small parcel.
aN oral sWaB is all it takes
in those days, potential donors had to take this parcel
to their family doctor and give a blood sample, which
would then be sent to the dkmS for typing. today, 14
years later, the procedure is much simpler. Anyone
who wants to save a life can simply register on the internet,
and will receive a letter in the post. the letter
contains two cotton buds. the applicant uses these to
take a swab from the inside of his or her own cheek,
packs the cotton buds in the receptacle provided, and
sends them back to the dkmS.
the dkmS is a centralised database in which tissue
typing data for bone marrow donors all over the
world is stored. if a patient afflicted with leukaemia
needs a donation, the patient’s data is matched with
the information stored in the database. this enables
compatible donors to be found wherever they are in
the world. in the last 19 years, the method has saved
21,666 lives. A start, but nowhere near enough.
For some time after he sent his swabs to the dkmS
for typing, Frank oetting heard nothing. but a year
later, he received a letter. “i was informed that my
name had come up in an expanded donor search”,
recalls the 43-year-old. At that time, he went to his
doctor, who took another blood sample, and this in
turn was sent to the dkmS. Nowadays, the cotton
“I stayed in hospital
for a day – it was
nothing really!”
buds mentioned earlier would be used. in this event,
the doctors selected a candidate whose values were
more compatible with those of the patient.
tHeN tHiNGs HaPPeNeD
VerY Fast
ten years passed. in the summer of 2007 the father of
two children received another letter from the dkmS.
this time too, another donor was selected. then, in
2008, Frank oetting received a phone call. He was
one of just three possible donors. “they asked me if
i was still prepared to make a donation. there was
no question about that. You can withdraw at any
time up to two weeks before the operation date,
but of course i was willing”, he says. Samples were
sent off again, again the doctors decided to use a different
donor. “but then things happened very fast”,
says mr. oetting, who has donated blood regularly
over the years. on 19 June, 2008, the phone in the
oetting residence rang again. it was the dkmS. the
other donor had withdrawn, and the patient in question
was in desperate need of a donation. they asked
Frank again if he would be willing. He answered, “but
of course!” they told him when the operation was to
take place in the same phone call.
sUPPort FroM HaNsa-FleX
“i had only just started with HANSA-FLEX back then.
So i went to christine Linz, the manager of the central
warehouse in bremen, and asked her if i could
do this”, he recalls now. Her reply came without hesitation:
“but of course!” two days later, Frank oetting
was lying in a hospital bed in Hameln, were he was
given a complete physical examination. “i thought to
myself: that can’t be bad, you get a complete physical
checkup for free as well”, the HANSA-FLEX employee
recalls with a smile. the result was unequivocal.
Frank was as healthy as a horse. the donation could
go ahead. bone marrow donations are conducted
with the donor under general anaesthetic. then, the
doctors puncture the pelvic bone and withdraw bone
marrow. of course, this procedure is not without its
own risks. the typical risk of anaesthesia exists as for
any operation. Although in this case, a short-duration
anaesthetic is used, which also reduces the risk.
there is no risk of paraplegia to the donor, because
it is not spinal marrow that is being removed from
the spine. doctors are taking bone marrow from the
pelvic bone.
the operation on Frank oetting passed off with no
complications. the incision was sewn shut with a
stitch, and after a few months was not even visible.
14 HANSA-FLEX Customers magazine