TV personality Kim Na-young has followed through on a pledge she made more than a decade ago, donating blood-forming stem cells to a matching patient. She documented the entire journey on her YouTube channel "No Filter TV," calling it “something you might only get to do once in a lifetime.”
In a note shared with SBS on Sept. 1, Kim said the experience began with “a lucky letter that arrived more than ten years after I signed up,” adding, “I got word that a patient’s HLA markers matched mine, and I was thrilled to realize I could help.”
“I never knew how happy it would make me to cheer on someone whose name and face I don’t know,” she continued. “When I was struggling, I received so much support―now I’m passing it forward. Along with my stem cells, I’m sending all the happiness, love and encouragement that’s been welling up inside me.”
On YouTube, Kim walked viewers through the prep―from injections that boost white blood cell production to hours of apheresis―capturing both nerves and excitement. “They told me the recipient’s blood type would change to mine, and that there’d be another person out there with the same blood as me,” she said. “That made me tear up.”
She added that many recipients treat transplant day like a new birthday. “This was a blessing for me too―a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Don’t be afraid; it’s absolutely doable.”
Her boyfriend, singer MY Q, shared on social media, “I learn from Na-young and I feel it deeply. Always showing respect through actions rather than words.”
Hematopoietic stem cell donation is a critical therapy for patients with leukemia and other blood cancers. Healthy adults ages 18 to 40 can register and may be called to donate if their HLA matches a patient’s. “How many people get to experience something like this?” Kim said. “It was one of the happiest, most meaningful moments of my life.”
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)