A treasured Travellers Times magazine kept safe for years

After David Matthews’ passing, his family uncovered a long‑kept TT magazine story about his life‑saving stem‑cell donation

We were recently contacted by Matt Matthews, whose father David Matthews has sadly passed away – a loss Matt says has “shattered our community’s hearts.” Matt had contacted us to ask if Travellers’ Times still had a copy of an old magazine story of ours about David donating stem cells to help save someone’s life. Our archives only go back to 2009, so we didn’t – but the family later discovered that David had kept his own copy – a small piece of TT history held onto for years.

The original story told how David, from Liphook in Hampshire, became a rare stem‑cell match after he and his wife Simone were moved by a TV programme about children needing bone‑marrow transplants. Simone’s test wasn’t suitable, but David’s was a “miracle match”.

Although David admitted he wasn’t keen on needles, he went ahead with the donation. A courier collected his cells straight from the hospital to take to a leukaemia patient. “That’s what it was really all about,” he said at the time.

The the UK stem‑cell donation charity Anthony Nolan Trust described his donation as potentially life‑saving for a child or adult anywhere in the world.

Our condolences go to Matt and all the Matthews family, and to David’s friends and community, on the loss of David.

By Mike Doherty for Travellers Times

(Photograph courtesy of Matt Matthews)