After meeting the stem cell donor whose act of kindness saved his life, Alan Dickeson was left speechless.

"Words can't explain it. I was glad to meet him," Dickeson said.

15 years ago, the native of Quispamsis, N.B. was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.

The disease affected blood and destroyed Dickeson’s immune system, forcing him to undergo chemotherapy treatment to get it under control.

The father of two is currently in remission, thanks to a snap decision by his stem cell donor, 22-year-old Caleb Dratch.

The journey to becoming a lifesaver started when Dratch decided to give a DNA swab sample after passing a stem cell donor booth on his university campus.

“They were trying to grab students to help populate their list,” Dratch said. “I was just walking by and they asked me if I had a moment to do a quick swab, and I just did that and filled out the paperwork and I was on my way.”

A month after Dratch gave his initial DNA sample, he was notified that a donor match had been found.

On Saturday, the pair had an emotional get-together, giving Dickeson and his family a chance to try to show their gratitude to the 22-year-old.

Dickeson’s wife Debbie was also at a loss for words.

"How do you say thank you? He gave me my husband and he gave our two boys their dad back,” Debbie said. “How do you say thank you for that, outside of hugging him and thanking him.”

Dratch had spoken to the Dickeson family on the phone before, but Saturday was the first time they met face-to-face. Dratch's parents were also on hand for the celebration and said they were moved by how many people had been affected by their son's act of charity.

"It was hard to hold back the tears," Dratch’s father Neil told CTV Atlantic.

Dratch’s mother Olga said it was “wonderful” to see her son’s impact.

"To see that it's not just about Debbie and Alan, but so many people that he's affected," she said.

At first, his parents were reluctant to allow him to continue with the donor process.

"We had a lot of questions at first," said Neil Dratch. "We were worried about the medication that he was going to take, so we sat down and had a long discussion about it and Caleb was adamant that it was something he wanted to do, and since then there's been no looking back."

After getting the procedure, Dratch checked off a box that said he would be willing to allow his information to be released to the stem cell recipient.

And Dickeson's family is thankful that he did. Both Dickeson and his family said the opportunity to meet Dratch has given him the strength to keep fighting his cancer.

With a report from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Blackford.