A BRIDGWATER cancer patient has met the man who saved his life by donating stem cells to enable him to have vital treatment.

Luke Buckingham, 29, told the Mercury about his emotional meeting with Richard Barker from Hull, whose cell donation meant Luke could undergo a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

He met Richard at the weekend and was able to pass on his feelings of gratitude by taking him and his girlfriend out for lunch as well as buying him a couple of pints of Guinness.

Luke was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2008 while travelling in Australia and was told, after treatment both in Melbourne and Musgrove Park in Taunton, he was in remission.

But in July 2012 he had the devastating news that the leukaemia had returned and he needed a bone marrow transplant. Richard’s DNA was discovered to be a perfect match and the operation went ahead at Bristol Children’s Hospital in 2012.

Luke, who works in sports development at Bridgwater College, had to wait for the two-year anonymity period to pass before he could make contact with Richard and thank him for saving his life.

He said: “I was very nervous about meeting Richard. I felt totally inadequate. There isn’t actually anything you can buy someone who has so selflessly done this for me.

"I did buy him a couple of pints but nothing would ever be enough. I think perhaps in meeting me, Richard was able to see what his act of donation has achieved.

"I am feeling well now and everything is good at the moment. He has given me that.

“We had a lot in common as well as our DNA, which was a ten out of ten match.

We are both interested in sport and we got on really well from the start. I would like to stay in touch with him if possible.”

Luke, who went to Chilton Trinity School and then Bridgwater College before moving to Taunton, is a popular figure around the local sports circuit, having played for and managed Bridgwater Town Reserves.

And two years ago almost 100 runners took part in Bridgwater’s 5k run – carrying ironing boards – to raise £1,000 to help their friend beat the disease.

Luke now wants to publicise the work of the Antony Nolan Trust which matches donors with cancer patients.

He said: “This story isn’t really about me, but I’m happy to tell my story. If any Mercury readers register as a stem cell donor after reading this then it will be worth me speaking out.”

The Anthony Nolan Trust currently has 500,000 people on its register.

But the organisation can only find a matching donor for half the people who desperately need one. See more at www.anthonynolan.org/8-waysyou- could-save-life/donateyour-stem-cells