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Stem cell donors urgently wantedJulie's father on RTL: “I'm afraid for my daughter!”
Julie from Andernach hopes to find a suitable donor on Sunday.
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Will her family find Julie's savior on Sunday?
The 17-year-old student, Julie, has been diagnosed with blood cancer for the second time in her life. She has been fighting so bravely against her fate for years and hopes at the weekend that happiness will come back into her life. Because on Sunday there is a big DKMS typing campaign for them in Andernach. Julie urgently needs a stem cell donor. In an interview, her father tells RTL exclusively how things are going with Julie, what she dreams of and how great the hope for a miracle still is.
Together with her father Viktor, she often endures difficult times in the hospital. Because of the risk of infection, not many people are allowed to visit them. Because Julie doesn't feel well, she doesn't want to show herself at the moment. But it was important to her to show the photo with her father.
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Julie Schmitt leans in the hospital bed, her head resting on her father's shoulder. The father-daughter team from Andernach has spent far too much time in hospitals in the last few months. They both dream of walking along the Rhine again with dog Charlie or of attending a concert by Julie's idol Billie Eilish (“Soft Kissing Hour”) in full health. Sunday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Andernach-Namedy gymnasium) can be a very crucial day when the DKMS finds a potential donor as part of a registration campaign with the help of the helping carnival association “NKG”.
The young but great fighter received the shocking diagnosis in 2024: leukemia. At first the therapies worked. It looked as if the vicious disease was in retreat, but in February 2026 the cancer will return, on World Cancer Day of all days. The hope: a stem cell donation from a previously unknown person who happens to have the same tissue characteristics as Julie. Father Viktor Pegler: “There must be a genetic and healthy twin somewhere in the world who will voluntarily donate stem cells.”
Julie: “I’m afraid of the next chemo block”
A few days ago, Julie was allowed to leave the clinic in Koblenz and her aunt and father have been looking after her since then. Until we start chemotherapy again in four weeks. This is followed by antibody therapy before Julie is prepared for a possible stem cell transplant at the Giessen/Marburg University Hospital. The student told RTL: “I'm afraid of the next chemo block. But also of everything that will happen to me in the next few weeks. I know what the first chemo block did to me and I'm trying not to think about it.”
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Because Julie isn't feeling well at the moment, her father speaks to RTL on her behalf: “When I was first diagnosed, my world collapsed. Now, with the relapse, I'm very afraid for my daughter.” In the conversation, he describes his daughter so lovingly and combatively: “Julie is a calm, very conscientious and considerate person. She is determined, but likes to put off unpleasant things. She actually works best under pressure to perform. She enjoys dealing with animals much more than with people. But she has a small group of friends that are very important to her and she sees them as often as she can.”
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After the blood work in autumn 2024 and the shocking diagnosis, it was a shock for the family. Father Viktor to RTL: “At first we didn't know what form of leukemia it was. In my work as a nurse, I looked after patients in the hospital who were undergoing chemotherapy one or two times and was therefore simply very afraid of what was to come. Now, with the recurrence, I'm actually very afraid for their lives.” Mother Katja Schmitt also suffers with her daughter and even closed the beauty salon because of it. They want to heal their daughter with the strength of the family and hope for Sunday.
Family father Viktor concludes: “Since the recurrence, we have only been treated as inpatients. On days when Julie is not feeling well, which is definitely the majority at the moment, we are happy to be here and grateful that she has this monitoring, but the days when she feels better are comparable to being in prison. Nevertheless, of course everyone here tries everything to make sure that we and especially Julie feel as well as possible, but home is always the best.” So it's time for Julie to get out of “prison” as quickly as possible thanks to a suitable donation and then be able to dance to the music of Billie Eilish with her dog Charlie again.
Sources used: own RTL research, www.dkms.de/julie
