Father of three meets bone marrow donor who saved his life for 'most special Christmas'

When American student Cassidy Feeney landed at Perth airport last week, she was greeted with a big hug by a man she had never met.

He was not exaggerating.

Six years ago, Gennaro Rapinese was desperately searching the globe for a person willing and able to donate their bone marrow to him.

The father of three had been battling acute myeloid leukaemia and admitted he was in a "dark place" mentally.

Enter Cassidy, who was rated a 100 per cent — or 12 out of 12 — match for Gennaro.

"Once they told me I was a perfect match, there was really no question — I was going to do it," she said.

Now, the 27-year-old will be spending her usually chilly Christmas holidays amid the sweltering heat in Perth, as an honorary addition to Gennaro's family.

"Without a bone marrow donor … there's no question, I wouldn't be here today," Gennaro said.

'Missed opportunity' in Australia

Cassidy was introduced to a bone marrow registry at college when she was a teenager.

"Our sorority offered points in the competition we were doing if we signed up," she said.

"I think in Australia, there is a missed opportunity for bringing more of the younger generation in and spreading the awareness."

Australia has one of the lowest comparable donor pools in the world, according to Kate Levy from Stem Cell Donors Australia.

"Around 80 per cent of stem cell transplants in Australia actually come from international donors, that's because we don't have enough registered donors here in Australia," she said.

Ms Levy said Australia could learn a lot from American registries offered through higher education.

"I would love to see programs in every university … where we are recruiting donors through the universities because young donors are better," she said.

Cheek swabs as alternative to blood samples

Ms Levy also called for high schools to make students aware of how easy it had become for students to register as donors.

Six years ago, the only way to recruit donors onto the registry was by collecting blood samples through a specific agency.

Now it can be done via a simple cheek swab at Stem Cell Donors Australia.

In most cases, a stem cell donation will do the trick.

"Stem cell donation looks like a long blood donation, needles in both arms, blood goes into a machine, the stem cells are extracted, and the remaining blood goes back in," Ms Levy explained.

But if a bone marrow donation is required, that means a hospital visit, with a recovery period of up to a week.

There is still a dropout rate of 30 per cent once someone is formally matched.

Ms Levy said one contributing factor is that people don't want to lose pay when they take time off for the procedure.

"If we got more corporates, more employers saying fine, take some time off, you are saving a life, you are doing it with our blessing, we would have so many more people actually go through with donation," she said.

Last year, the federal government pledged $4.2 million to increase the number and diversity of bone marrow donors on the Australian registry.

But Stem Cell Donors Australia said there is more work to do.

'The most special Christmas' family has celebrated

Gennaro's wife, Joanne, tirelessly campaigned for donors.

"I said to my family and friends, 'I think we just get as many people as we can on the registry and if it doesn't help Gennaro, then at least it's going to help other people who are suffering in the same way,'" Joanne said.

And there was.

"For us, this is probably the most special Christmas that we will probably ever have," Gennaro said.

"Cassidy obviously saved Gennaro's life, but she's now a part of our family."

Cassidy is feeling the love.

"I felt like everything happens for a reason and I was called for a reason, ' Cassidy explained.

"They've treated me like family … I think it's a really special Christmas gift."

Gennaro's cancer is now gone.

He and Cassidy are now planning to ink matching tattoos.