I was a match for someone about a year ago. They explained to me that to be a match you must be a relative in some way although they would not reveal the persons identity. I took an initial blood test to confirm whether or not I was in fact a match, I was. I was planning my trip to Florida, where they have their facility. I had to take a day off of work to travel a distance to an office affiliated with Gift of Life for a physical. I waited several hours in the waiting room only for the physical to be just a few minutes, after taking blood again. I was of course extremely excited to literally be saving a persons life. I also was very curious who the distant relative might be. Turned out my platelet count was too low and the procedure would be too risky. I could not stop thinking about the recipient who was hopeful to receive his treatment only to be let down by a factor they could have determined way earlier from the first blood test. Sorry I could not share a full experience with you but if I can recommend anything it’s to make sure they take as much data as can be useful from the initial blood test in order not to give false hope to the donor and recipient.
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