German man comes to Topeka to unite with the man whose life he saved

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - In 2013, one mans life was turned upside down as he and his family found out that he was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma and would need a stem cell transplant.

Stem cell transplants treat patients who are facing life threatening illnesses.

David Peter expresses his gratitude each day to assure his donor that he will forever appreciate what he has done.

“He is a very generous person, we call him our hero,” said David. “Now we have gotten to meet him in Germany and now he’s come to the U.S. and it’s been an amazing experience. They’ve got an amazing family. So, I am very thankful, thankful for everything he did for me and my family.”

The process is simple to figure out whether you are able to donate or not. All it takes is an oral swab.

David’s donor, Christian Suttner, said he is happy he was able to help and gain an American family in the process.

“I got a letter from DKMS, Germany, which told me that I am a potential donor and I called them and they said that I should go to a doctor to get blood samples, and after the blood samples they decided that I was a possible match,” said Suttner.

While David was having a difficult time dealing with the news, so was his family.

David’s father, Veryl Peter, said that they all went through a grieving process trying to comprehend everything that was happening.

Veryl said that they are all grateful for their German family and said that Christian has become a third son to him.

“We had good faith that something could happen and could be figured out to help him,” said Veryl. “So we just had to have faith that the process would work and something would work out and fortunately it did.”

Christian said that he wouldn’t change a thing.

“If you have the chance to save a life you should do it. It’s not a problem, it’s easy to do.”

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