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For a long time he was known simply as the “Düsseldorf patient”. Now it’s clear who was behind the medical sensation. Marc Franke is one of five patients worldwide who have fully recovered from HIV.
Not only that: she overcame her additional leukemia thanks to stem cell therapy. A woman saved his life with him. He and Marc Franke have now told his story on “Stern TV.”
“The whole world is collapsing”
Fifteen years ago, she felt unwell for weeks, finally went to the hospital for a checkup, and got the devastating certainty that she was HIV-positive. “The whole world will collapse first,” says the 54-year-old.
“You don’t know how to deal with it because you didn’t deal with it that intensely before. Everything rains down on you like a waterfall.” Even then, the family doctor gave him hope. He said to him, “Mr. Franke, don’t take this so seriously. We’ll both see HIV cured.”
He is worried not only by the disease, but also by the question of where he caught the virus. At the time, he had kept his homosexuality a secret from his family and did not dare to talk to them about his illness.
The next blow of fate comes in 2010: Marc Franke suffers from pneumonia and is diagnosed with acute leukemia. “At first I thought: Ah! death penalty.”
Thanks to the gene defect, he survived both diseases
He’s on chemotherapy but it’s not working. His only hope: stem cell donation. Lifeguard: Anja Prause. “It was really depressing,” he tells “Stern TV” when he hears Franke is in good shape.
What he didn’t know: Doctors had specifically looked for a gene mutation in stem cells to fight the HI virus as well. This is very rare – but Prause carried the mutation. And so he saved Franke’s life.
Franke: “It was very lucky to find a suitable donor and then someone with the genetic defect.”
A year after the stem cell donation, Franke and Prause communicate with each other for the first time and become friends. “After all this time, Anja feels like a second mother to me because I have her genes too.” (what is that)
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
