Call for stem cell donors: Partner of Bundesliga player has leukaemia

Heidenheim's Eren Dinkci reacts after the final whistle of the German Bundesliga soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Heidenheim at the Deutsche Bank Park. Florian Wiegand/dpa

The partner of Bundesliga player Eren Dinkçi has been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukaemia and they are now looking for stem cell donors for her and others suffering from the illness.

Clubs Freiburg and Heidenheim issued a joint statement on Tuesday with the German Bone Marrow Donor Registry (DKMS), giving fans the opportunity to register around their duel on Sunday in Freiburg, at Heidenheim's game against St Pauli a week later, or online.

Dinkçi is on loan at Freiburg from Heidenheim until the end of the season.

The statement said that his 24-year-old partner, Cinja, was diagnosed with leukaemia in January. There was no suitable donor within the family which prompted going public with the help of the clubs and the DKMS.

Finding a stem cell donor is a last chance for many people suffering from leukaemia to survive the illness. The statement said that a leukemia diagnosis is issued every 12 minutes in Germany.

“From one moment to the next, everything comes to a standstill, and at the same time a journey begins that you could never have imagined,” the couple said in the statement.

But while hoping to find a donor for Cinja, they are also looking at the big picture aiming to raise awareness.

“It is precisely at times like these that you realise just how valuable every single registration is. It can make the crucial difference between hope and uncertainty,” they said.