BONE
MARROW DONORS
Could you be a bone marrow
donor? You may be a blood donor, you may even carry an organ donor
card, but have you ever considered being a bone marrow donor?
Recently we heard of the Hartley
family – all four boys suffer from a rare genetic disease
and need a bone marrow transplant.
Northern Ireland man Brian
Pierce who was diagnosed 2 years ago with All Lymphoblastic leukaemia.
The outlook was bleak, and without a donor, it’s unlikely
that Brian Pierce would be talking On Your Behalf.
On the programme we talked to Brian, who wouldn’t be alive
today if someone, somewhere hadn’t made the decision to join
the register; to Carol Baker, who earlier this year became a bone
marrow donor, and Angela McVicar Donor Recruitment Officer for the
Anthony Nolan Trust.
The Anthony Nolan Trust maintains
the UK’s largest register of over 350,000 potential volunteer
donors willing to donate their bone marrow should their tissue type
match that of any patient in need of a transplant to help fight
leukaemia or any related disease of the immune system.
Joining the register
The more people on the register who are willing to donate increases
the chance of a suitable match being found.
Every year over 7,000 people in the UK have their lives shattered
by devastating news that they require a bone marrow or stemcell
transplant. Leukaemia and other potentially fatal bone marrow disorders
strike indiscriminately and have a profound effect on all concerned.
For many patients without a sibling match,
volunteer donors offer THE ONLY CHANCE OF LIFE.
“The Anthony Nolan Trust exists to facilitate a transplant
for any patient in the world in need of bone marrow or appropriate
cells”.
Important Criteria
• To join the register you must be aged 18 – 40yrs
• Must be in good general health
• Must weigh more than 8 stone and not be excessively overweight.
• Must be willing to give a 4ml (less than a teaspoonful)
blood sample to join this life saving register.
• Must be willing to donate to anyone they may match worldwide.
We desperately need to recruit more males and donors from all ethnic
minorities due to a severe shortage of donors from these groups.
A spokesman for the Trust says “There is something we can
all do to help. Joining the register is something we should all
consider. We are offering people the privilege of saving a life
and the cost to the donor is time and compassion. The value of the
donation to families affected is immeasurable. Bone marrow reproduces
its self within 21 days and the donor has given someone their last
chance to fight for their life”
Potential donors who
cannot attend on the clinic days are urged to call the Donor
Hotline no: 0901 8822234.
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