Blood cancer patients need life-saving donors in Yorkshire - Reshna Radiven

In York, registrations have fallen by 65 per cent compared to 2020.

Sadly, York follows a national trend, with just over a third of the number of people in the UK registering with us in the first three months of 2022 compared to this time last year.

We are urging people in York to register as blood stem cell donors to help reverse this shocking decline, and give a second chance at life for someone with blood cancer.

Blood cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Every year, more than 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.

But a blood stem cell donation from a genetically similar person can offer a second chance at life for those in need. With just three per cent of the UK’s population registered as potential donors, a surge in registrations is needed to help give those with blood cancer the best chance.

Only one in four people with blood cancer (and in need of a transplant) will find a matching blood stem cell donor within their own family, which means that those in need of a blood stem cell transplant will rely on the kindness of a stranger.

For patients, it is a game of numbers, the more people who are on the stem cell register, the higher the probability a patient will be able to find their perfect match.

Myla Mae Hatcher, eight, and her family from Sheffield, know only too well the relief of discovering a kind stranger has registered and is willing to donate their stem cells, to save a stranger’s life.

Myla was diagnosed at just four years old with severe aplastic anaemia, a deficiency of all three blood cell types – white, red and platelets.

The life-threatening condition drained her of energy and made it difficult for her to enjoy her loves in life: swimming, gymnastics and ballet.

Her best option was to find a blood stem cell match and luckily her match was found just before Christmas 2018 – she is now recovering at home.

Myla’s mother, Danielle, said: “Being told that her best shot at a normal life was a stem cell transplant yet no one in our family was a match was even more heart-breaking.

“I was so scared when I realised we were reliant on a kind stranger somewhere in the world to save her life. It’s impossible to comprehend how important such a small action as swabbing your cheeks and joining the register is until it’s you, your spouse, your child, or your friends fighting for their lives.

“If you are eligible to sign up, please do so and give other people the second chance at life that I have been given.”

Jack Pennell, 25, from Hertfordshire was the generous stranger who saved Myla’s life.

Jack donated by bone marrow donation in 2018.

He heard about DKMS at a British Bone Marrow event as he regularly donates blood.

A year or two after he donated, the daughter of one of the consultants at the hospital he worked at was sadly diagnosed with the exact same condition as Myla (his recipient).

Of his experience, Jack said: “I joined the stem cell register with the hopes of saving someone’s life, but I never expected to actually be called upon.

“I was so delighted that I got the chance to make such a positive impact on someone else’s life.

“Meeting Myla made the experience all the more meaningful.

“The difference that a few painless hours of my life made to Myla and her family will always stay with me, there could be someone out there hoping for you to be that difference for them.”

If you’ve been inspired by Jack and Myla’s story, you can be a potential life-saver too by taking the first simple steps to register as a potential blood stem cell donor.

If you are aged between 17-55 and in general good health you can sign up for a home swab kit online at dkms.org.uk.

- Reshna Radiven is Head of Communications and Engagement at blood cancer charity DKMS, which stands for ‘Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei’, or German Bone Marrow Donor Centre. Although DKMS was founded in Germany in 1991, it has since extended its mission to the UK, Poland, the US, Chile, India and South Africa but uses the same name everywhere.