I simply ask that people take a few minutes to understand what’s involved, register and encourage others to come here and do the same. Say and do “I can and I will” and let us Save lives together

Finding a donor match is not straight forward. The odds of success are currently poor. Only 50% of patients needing a life saving donor ever find a match and if you are of Black, Asian or of mixed race the figure falls to 20%.
For me, this situation is unacceptable and I wish to spread awareness for this desperate need for more people to register.

Registration facts:

It is about the act and not about donations. There is no cost to you by Joining the register via Anthony Nolan or Delete Blood Cancer UK. They give the option of paying towards the cost of their registration. It takes minutes to register online. A DIY kit arrives by post and all that you provide is a cheek swab or spit sample.

The registration process doesn’t need to involve a needle!

1: Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Donation

This method of donation occurs 90% of the time.
As a donor you are required for four consecutive days prior to the stem cell collection to have a daily injection to stimulate stem cell production (G-CSF)
On the day of donation, the donor’s blood is collected from a small tube inserted into a vein in your arm to collect the Stem cells via the blood stream. This is passed through a machine that separates out the blood stem cells and then your remaining blood is returned to you.
Your blood stem cells will completely replenish themselves within 2-3 weeks of the collection.
This is a non-surgical outpatient procedure that takes around around four hours.

2: Bone Marrow Donation

PLEASE NOTE: This method of donation occurs only 10% of the time.
As a donor you will not experience any pain as a general anaesthetic is given whilst the bone marrow is extracted from the pelvic bone (not the spine)
in a minor medical procedure that only takes about an hour.
I have personally seen many of these procedures done due to my work in hospitals and none of the patients I looked after unduely suffered or regretted their decision and many patients felt no pain at all and went to work the next day.
Some donors do experience minor discomfort and some short term bruising after the procedure but within a week they are back to normal.
“What’s the difference between a Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplant and a Bone Marrow Transplant?”
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are essential treatments for the majority of cancer patients and high doses severely damage and destroy healthy stem cells which normally produce red blood cells that deliver oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells which help fight off infections and platelets which are vital for blood clotting and wounds healing.
Stem cell transplantation is a general term that describes stem cell transplantation procedures that come from either the bone marrow or the blood.
If the transplanted stem cells come from the bloodstream, the procedure is called a peripheral blood stem cell transplant.When stem cells are collected from bone marrow and transplanted into a patient, the procedure is known as a bone marrow transplant. A ‘Stem Cell Transplant’ or a ‘Bone Marrow Transplant’ is just a form of stem cell transplantation.
The only difference is where in the body the transplanted stem cells came from. The transplants themselves are the same.

Registering as a potential stem cell / bone marrow donor in the UK is easy. There are four potential organisations. Read their criteria and exclusions to see where you fit in and when satisfied simply register with that one.
Generally, you need to be aged between 16 and 55 years old, in good health and have not registered before as it’s only required to be done the once. Once on the register, on average you have about a 1 in 1,200 chance of being asked to actually donate and personally I can’t wait to be a match!!! The thought of being able to save someone’s life by going through a simple procedure fills me with happiness.

Anthony Nolan:

Age  – You must be aged between 16 and 30 years old
Health  – You need to be in general good health (check the exclusion criteria on website)
Weight  – you must weigh over 7st 12 Ibs (50kg) & have a body mass index (BMI) lower than 40

D.K.M.S

Age  – You must be aged between 17 and 55 years old
Health  – You need to be in general good health
Weight  – You must weigh over 7st 12 Ibs (50kg) & have a body mass index (BMI) lower than 40.

You will then be sent a ‘do it yourself’ swab kit in the post. Just rub the cotton bud like swabs on each cheek for 30 seconds, then pop the swabs back in the post in the return envelope and your sample will be analysed and your data will be put on the UK register

British Bone Marrow Registry (BBMR):

You must also be a blood donor.

Blood donors can only join the BBMR if they fit in to one of two groups:

Caucasian male donors aged 17 to 40

Black, Asian or minority ethnicity donors of either gender, aged 17 to 40.

Health – You need to be in general good health (check the exclusion criteria on website)
Weight – You must weigh over 8 stone 12 lbs (50kg)

# You must already be a blood donor so when next giving blood, inform the staff at the blood donation session that you wish to join the BBMR before your blood donation is taken and an extra blood sample will be taken during your blood donation and your tissue type will be identified and added to the UK Registry.

Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry (WBMDR):

Age – You must be aged between 17 and 30 years old
Health – You need to be in general good health (check the exclusion criteria on website)
Weight – You must weigh over 7 stone 12 lbs (50kg)

# You must already be a blood donor so when next giving blood, inform the staff at the blood donation session that you wish to join the WBMDR before your blood donation is taken and the next time you give blood you will be asked to give an extra blood sample so your tissue type will be identified and added to the UK Registry.

NOTE: Once registered on ONE of the four organisations you are then on the overall UK Register and you wont need to do it again

“We will save lives together”