Maltese 'hero' priest hailed in UK after bone marrow donation
A mother-of-three has had a tearful reunion with a Maltese hospital chaplain after discovering he was the donor who saved her life in a bone marrow operation in London two years ago. Fr Mario Sant, 39, is in London to support patients sent for treatment there. Described by the UK press as "a Maltese national hero", Fr Sant three years ago was moved by the plight of a five-year-old boy at Great Ormond Street to become a bone marrow donor. It was too late to save the boy, who died a few months later, but the priest was put on the international database as a bone marrow donor. In March 2019, he met leukaemia patient Agnes Vella, 59, who needed stem cells from bone marrow to stop her cancer. “She was at the Royal Marsden in London, and we joked that I could be her donor, as I was called to donate as she arrived,” Fr Sant told the Press Association. “But her records said the donor was English and I was born in Malta, so we didn’t think it was me. Plus, I donated at a different hospital, so it just didn’t fit. I think we both hoped and joked about it, but we thought it wasn’t possible.” Fr Sant and Vella stayed in touch but did not discuss the matter again. In May last year, Vella...