Former hockey referee Pontus Björk Zaar signed up for the Tobias Register after Malmö Redhawks and several other SHL clubs started the campaign "Kampen för livet" in the autumn of 2017. The purpose of the campaign was to get more stem cell donors between 18-35 years when there has long been a shortage of young men in the register.
- It reached me in a way that it has not done before and it felt like it was an easy thing to do that could help a lot, says Pontus.
Just over six months after Pontus registered, he received a call from the Tobias Register that he had been matched with a person who was in need of a stem cell transplant.
Hear Pontus talk about his stem cell donation in the clip above.
Felt obvious
- When I was asked if I wanted to help, I felt that it was a matter of course to do it for someone else, he says.
Over the years, the number of applications to the Tobias Register has increased and today there are 193,571 people registered.
Despite the increase, there is still a need to get more young men among the donors.
- I do not know if it is some kind of macho culture that you do not want to get involved and so on.
I think it is a matter of course to register as a young man, he says.