‘Since my life was saved by a stem cell donor, I have visited over 80 countries’

Now, Abraham, who studied at Sunderland Yeshiva and mentors young Orthodox boys who are out of education and struggling, has made a full recovery.

Ever since he got his strength back in 2019, he has been travelling the world and has visited 83 countries, as far north as Norway and as far east as Japan.

Abraham Treuhaft in Osaka, Japan, on his worldwide travels (Photo: Abraham Treuhaft)[Missing Credit]

It was during Abraham’s family holiday, celebrating his grandmother’s 70th birthday in Canazei in the Dolomites, that he knew something “wasn’t adding up” about his health.

“I thought it was just because of the high altitude, but when I was playing football, I’d be completely out of breath, which didn’t make sense because I was very fit and healthy,” he said.

When he returned to the UK, the symptoms got worse and he went to the doctor, who eventually broke the news.

“Always in the back of your mind, you think: ‘What if I get cancer?’ And that’s when it hit me: ‘Well, I’ve actually got cancer now.’

“My only close connection with someone who had cancer was my grandfather, who passed away three years prior to my story. So, for me, I thought if you get cancer, you die.

At this point, Abraham was pessimistic about his prospects. “My initial thoughts were: ‘Now, it’s just a matter of time. I’ll be dying in the next year or so.’”

He was referred to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, where a stem cell transplant was recommended and an international search for a donor began.

While waiting to see if a match could be found, Abraham was given four rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Abraham Treuhaft having the stem cell transplant at The Christie in Manchester[Missing Credit]

That period was tough. “Nothing prepares you for such events,” Treuhaft said, who suffered badly from the side-effects of the chemotherapy drug. “It’s a difficult journey. Losing my hair was the most obvious side-effect to anyone who saw me, but in fact, that was the least of my concerns.

“From the tips of my toes to the top of my head, there wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t affected by the cancer and gave me pain.”

And despite the treatment, Abraham was told that without a stem cell transplant, the chance of a relapse was “a hundred per cent”.

Thankfully, a donor for Abraham was found in Roy Horn, a 20-year-old Israeli. There are ten basic genetic markers that medics look for to find the right donor, and Roy, who was doing his military duty in the Givati Brigade, was a perfect match.

At the time, the two men – donor and recipient – didn’t know of one another’s identities, or that both were Jewish.

“Whoever was a good match, that’s who we would have taken,” said Abraham. “I had no idea at the time that it was someone Jewish. I only found out three years later.”

In the UK, donors and recipients are legally allowed to meet after two years. However, Abraham wanted to wait a further year until meeting Roy because he struggled severely with Graft-versus-host disease, which meant that his body rejected the transplant.

At this time, he wasn’t able to leave Manchester, because he had to be close to the hospital as he had frequent infections. He spent his time teaching at a mainstream college, as well as at a Jewish college for struggling boys, some of whom had learning disabilities.

“Four weeks after the transplant, I had a really bad reaction and was told I had only four weeks to live,” he said.

“The doctor thought that there wasn’t any way to get it under control and he thought I’d die from that.”

At the time, Abraham was demoralised by the months and months of “relentless treatment”, so when he received the news, he was numb, having already dealt with so many “ups and downs and unknowns”.

“I don’t think I even cared about it much,” he said. “I was just like: ‘It is what it is, finished.’”

But eventually, the transplant worked, and ever since regaining his strength, Abraham has not stopped travelling the world. He is at 83 countries and counting and has a goal of reaching 90. “Since I got a second chance of life, I have wanted to see the world and make memories,” he said.

Abraham Treuhaft at the Taj Mahal, India (Photo: Abraham Treuhaft)[Missing Credit]

He has just returned from Australia with his wife Jade, whom he married last year, where they enjoyed “beautiful beaches” and “incredible scenery”.

Highlights of his travels so far have been the “amazing culture” of Japan and watching volcanoes erupt in Guatemala, where he had to hike between six and seven hours in high altitude, through rough terrain. He has visited India, Panama, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Morocco, Brazil, Pakistan among other places.

In July 2021, Abraham, who was attending a yeshiva in Jerusalem, finally met Roy. “I just remember being really nervous to meet the guy who saved my life,” he said. “We just gave one another a big hug.” The pair met a second time during the filming of a music video to promote Ezer Mizion, the world’s largest Jewish bone marrow registry.

When Abraham isn’t working at Yesoid, a youth club for teenagers from the Orthodox Jewish community in Manchester, he is travelling and sending Roy photos from his adventures.

Roy Horn donating stem cells (Photo: Roy Horn)[Missing Credit]

Even before registering to be a potential stem cell donor, Roy was aware of Ezer Mizion and had volunteered with the organisation before.

When he joined the IDF in 2015, he also joined the stem cell registry. It wasn’t until a few years later, at the beginning of an army training drill, that he received a phone call informing him that he was a perfect match for a patient in need – and he could potentially save someone’s life.

It took three years until Roy, now 30, was able to meet the cancer patient he had helped. Over the years, he was drip-fed information, that Abraham was a “kid aged 15-20”, that he was from Europe, and then, finally, from the UK.

When they spoke for the first time on the phone, it gave Roy goosebumps. “To actually hear the voice of the person whose life I had saved was amazing,” he said.

“When I heard him for the first time, I said: ‘Hi! How are you?’ This was after three years of not knowing whom I gave my stem cells to.” The two began speaking about what they did for work and where they grew up. “This was my brother for like, three years, and I didn’t know anything about him,” said Roy.

On meeting Abraham for the first time in Israel, Roy said: “He looked better than me!”

Describing that encounter was beyond words. “I can’t explain how it felt. We hugged and we talked. We were strangers for so many years, but just from this one sight, I knew this was him. I thought: ‘This is my brother, and this is my friend for life. No one can change that.’”

Since leaving the IDF in 2019, when he was a company commander, leading over 150 soldiers, Roy has studied industrial management engineering at university, graduating in December 2024. Since then, he has returned to the military as an engineer.

Abraham and Jade Treuhaft in Panama (Photo: Abraham Treuhaft)[Missing Credit]

Every time he receives a photo from Abraham, whether it is from the Great Wall of China, Sydney or Dubai, he thinks: “That lucky b*stard!” Roy, who has a one-year-old daughter and is expecting a baby boy in two months, is still on the stem cell register and would donate again in a heartbeat.

“When I signed up to the be a stem cell donor, I don’t think I truly realised the significance of what it meant in terms of saving someone’s life,” he said.

“Abraham is such a lovely guy, and I’m so pleased I could help him. I think we’ll always stay in touch now. If you can, join the register and you could also give a blood cancer patient a new lease of life.”

Roy Horn and his wife Gal (Photo: Roy Horn[Missing Credit]

Blood cancers are the fifth most common type of cancer, with more than 12 million new cases diagnosed worldwide every year, including one person every 20 minutes in the UK. They are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK, with nearly 13,000 people dying from blood cancer every year.

At any one time, there are around 2,000 people in this country in need of a stem cell transplant. Yet, a match can only be found for about 60 per cent of these patients, according to the Love Hope Strength Foundation, which works in partnership with blood cancer charity DKMS, to get more people in the UK to sign up to the register.

“Becoming a donor is so easy. You just order a free cheek swab from the comfort of your own home, and send it back to us with your sample to get on the register,” said Love Hope Strength chair Jules Peters.

Anyone between 17 and 55 years can be added to the stem cell register once they have answered a few health questions to ensure they are eligible to donate. More details of how to order a swab kit online can be found here or at: dkms.org.uk/lhs_24