Kingston parents meet daughter's lifesaver
A Kingston family will meet the woman who saved their daughter’s life next week, when they travel to Bedford to meet her blood stem cell (or bone marrow) donor. Ella Paul, 3, will travel with her parents Mark Paul and Jackie Dancer to meet Julie Healy, on Saturday 9 April.
Ella was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was just 3 months old. She underwent intensive chemotherapy to rid her body of the disease but her parents were then told she needed a stem cell transplant to save her life. She received her transplant in October 2008, but strict regulations prevent donor and patient for meeting for at least two years after the donation.
Anthony Nolan saves the lives of people with blood cancer, such as leukaemia, by matching them to people willing to donate their blood stem cells. There are 1,600 people in the UK who need a stem cell transplant but Anthony Nolan can only find matching donors for half of the people who come to the charity in desperate need of a lifesaving transplant
Ella’s mum, Jackie, said, “Ella is doing so well since her transplant – she’s an active and sociable toddler. We’re really excited about meeting Julie so that we can thank the wonderful person who saved her life.”
Natalie Keen, head of donor recruitment for Anthony Nolan, said, “Ella’s recovery just shows how important it is that more people join Anthony Nolan’s register. We especially need more young men to join as they’re the people most likely to be asked to donate. We just ask for some medical information and a small saliva sample and if you come up as a match for a patient, you could save a life.”
For more information, or for an interview with Julie, please contact Victoria Moffett on 020 7424 6619 / 07825 937920 or email victoria.moffett@anthonynolan.org
Please note that since July 2010, Anthony Nolan has dropped the word ‘Trust’ from its name.
Anthony Nolan is a pioneering charity that saves the lives of people with blood cancer. Every day, we use our register to match remarkable donors willing to donate their blood stem cells, or bone marrow, to people they have never met who desperately need lifesaving transplants.
We provide two potentially lifesaving transplants every day, but for every patient we can help, there is another who sadly we can’t because no match can be found.
To join the register, you must be aged between 18 and 40, weigh more than 8 stone (51kg) and be in general good health.
For more information on the donating process, or to apply to join the register, visit www.anthonynolan.org or call 0303 303 0303.
On average, 65 people a day in the UK are diagnosed with a blood cancer – that’s one person every 23 minutes.There are nearly 1,600 people in the UK in need of a bone marrow transplant. This is usually their last chance of survival.
70% of patients will not find a matching donor from within their families.80% of donations take place via PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell collection). This is an outpatient appointment and is similar to donating blood.
Most donors talk about how wonderful it is to have saved someone’s life.
All new donors are welcome but young males and people from ethnic minority and mixed race backgrounds are particularly encouraged to join the register.