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  • 17 hours ago

Against the odds, Arthur Lok Jack has survived Leukemia.

His journey through overcoming the illness is one of facing the reality of the end, and the life-saving kindness of a stranger in another part of the globe.

He and his wife Glenda Lok Jack walk us through the diagnosis and seeking medical help abroad. We also get some insight into his transplant donor.

Reporter Alicia Boucher and Cameraman Brandon Benoit bring you the story.
Transcript
00:00At the office of business magnate Arthur Lockjack at Associated Brands Industries Ltd.,
00:05three generations of the Lockjack family are gathered in support
00:09as he embarks on sharing his story on his battle with leukemia with us.
00:13They all know it's only possible because of the new lease on life that he was given.
00:18The year is 2015 and Lockjack is experiencing health problems,
00:23which doctors eventually link to his blood.
00:25He begins seeking medical assistance in Miami, Florida,
00:29through health facilities under the University of Miami, of which he is a benefactor.
00:34It is there that he is diagnosed with leukemia,
00:36a cancer of the blood that begins in the bone marrow for which there is no cure.
00:41The situation deteriorates into 2016 as the feasibility of different types of treatment is exploding.
00:48I'm guessing that, you know, on you as an individual,
00:53that would have had an impact on you.
00:55Well, basically, it is what it is.
00:58I'm a very practical man.
01:00I don't fool around with these things and so on.
01:04That's what it is.
01:05That's what it is.
01:06So, I immediately started to make up my estate planning and do various things
01:13and talk to my executives, all the various companies that I am involved in to let them know,
01:22to keep it confidential, but at the same time, letting them know what the situation was.
01:27So, I was very honest with them and straightforward with them to let them know.
01:31I didn't want to...
01:31And they understood and we went along like that.
01:38In the meantime, all the time, hoping and searching for some way of coming out of this thing.
01:46I never gave up hope.
01:47Because of his age, a stem cell transplant is ruled out.
01:52The conclusion?
01:53Lockjack would need a bone marrow transplant.
01:55The success of this depends on finding a human leukocyte antigens, or HLA match.
02:03HLA are proteins which are found on most cells.
02:06They help the body to recognize its own cells from that of foreign invaders.
02:11While siblings have a one in four chance of being an HLA match,
02:15Lockjack is the only child to his parents
02:18and would have to depend on a biologically unrelated donor to be found.
02:22I brought up two people, but it didn't come up to scratch.
02:28And then, you know, we were there and said, well, it is what it is.
02:33You know, if that's the case, they gave me some time.
02:39They talked in terms of maybe nine months to a year and all sorts of things like that
02:44that I would have to live.
02:46And I said, okay, well, it is, you know.
02:50It is what it is.
02:51Yeah.
02:52There is, you know, no sense crying over spirit, but this is scientific.
02:57This is not something that is an opinion or whatever it is, you know.
03:01This is a fact of life.
03:02But the stars align differently for him,
03:05and the University of Miami Health System reaches out.
03:09So they call you on the phone and they say there's a...
03:11Yeah, well, they are, because we are there
03:14and you're getting information all the time and they're trying and whatever.
03:18You know, and then eventually we got a nine out of ten.
03:22Lockjack isn't given any information about his donor and vice versa.
03:27But all the way in Germany,
03:29Lars Stromeyer is driven by purpose stemming from heartache.
03:33He was 11 years old when his dad was diagnosed with cancer,
03:36causing him and his family to spend a lot of time on cancer wards at hospital.
03:42Unfortunately, we couldn't help my father.
03:45And he had...
03:46The problem is that he died when I was 13.
03:51And I saw the effects that it had on my family, on us as a whole.
03:57And this is something I wouldn't wish unto my worst enemy.
04:00When the opportunity presented itself to register through the DKMS,
04:05the German Bone Marrow Donor Center,
04:07to become a donor in 2016,
04:10he did it unreservedly by simply providing a sample of saliva.
04:14His sample sits there for six years,
04:16and then out of the blue, there is a ping,
04:18an indication that he could be a possible match for someone.
04:22The process begins to further analyze if Stromeyer is a suitable donor
04:26through blood and other physical tests.
04:29But they are not allowed to tell you who it is or where it goes to
04:34just in order to make sure that it doesn't matter where this donation goes to.
04:43Because for whatever reason, some person might say,
04:46no, I don't want my blood being given to,
04:48or my Bone Marrow given to a person of that nationality or that creed or what have you.
04:53Stromeyer is a viable donor,
04:56and two options for donation are initially considered.
04:59Option one would require him to take medication
05:02that would produce the stem cells to be transferred to the recipient,
05:06but that is ruled out.
05:08So option two, direct extraction, is deemed the best way forward.
05:13In Germany, I think there are three specific hospitals that specialize in that.
05:18And Cologne was the closest to me, so I was sent there with my girlfriend,
05:23and we spent a lovely day there, and then I went into the, into the procedure.
05:33The procedure, yes, that is true.
05:36And as it just so happened to be, this was to happen to take place on my birthday.
05:41Because with the chemotherapy and with all the things that you have to, to synchronize,
05:50it just so happened to fall on my birthday, the 14th of October.
05:54Stromeyer and the Log Jack family don't realize it as yet,
05:57but that day would prove to be significant for more reasons than one in their lives,
06:02which we'll get into in part two of their story.
06:06Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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