Chadderton blood stem cell donor urges people to register to donate

Oldhamers are being urged to register as blood stem cell donors.

DKMS, a charity for people with blood cancer, said there is an urgent need for registrations to help meet the demand and reverse the decline in new registrations in recent times and potentially help save a life.

Less than 1% of people in the North West have signed up to be a blood stem cell donor during the pandemic.

Karen from Chadderton registered to be a donor in 2015 after seeing an appeal to help a little boy, Finn McEwen, find his lifesaver.

A few months later the mother-of-three was contacted to say she was a potential match for someone and she donated her blood stem cells by a peripheral blood stem cell collection. 

She said:

"It's something that I've always been aware of but I had a family quite young so it was something that was put on the backburner and then when I was older we had some losses in the family. My dad and my nephew passed away within a week of each other and it just made me want to have a look into doing something, anything, to help someone."

She wants people to know that you can sign up to be a donor with DKMS up until the age of 55. It's something she did at the age of 54 because it suited her lifestyle at that point.

She added:

"I registered in March 2015 and in the June I received a letter to say I was a potential match for someone.

"I was pretty excited! It sounds a strange reaction but I actually felt like I'd won the lottery because I felt like I was actually going to help someone."

She eventually ended up making contact with the man who received her donation and have kept in touch ever since. She said it was 'wonderful' to meet someone whose life you've saved.

DKMS is seeing a worrying increase in the gap in supply of blood stem cell donors and the demand for a blood stem cell transplant, even more so than before the lockdown.

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and unbeknown to 61% of people in the North West, it is the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK.

A stem cell transplant can be the last hope of survival for patients and during the coronavirus outbreak, it is even more important to offer hope to people with devastating blood cancers and blood disorders, whose lives have also been harmed by the pandemic.

Karen added:

"If you were willing to accept a donation of stem cells then you should be prepared to donate as well.

"I didn't know how I would feel but it was just amazing. I felt so happy that I could help somebody."

A common misconception about blood stem cell donation is that it's a painful and invasive treatment.

In reality around 90% of all donations are made through a method called peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC), which is similar to the process of giving blood.

In this method, blood is taken from one of the donor’s arms and a machine extracts the blood stem cells from it. The donor’s blood is then returned to them through their other arm. This is an outpatient procedure that is usually completed in 4-6 hours.

Karen said it's not much different to giving blood:

"It's not uncomforable at all. I just looked upon it as a rest and I could read, eat and just chill to be honest."

Jonathan Pearce, Chief Executive of DKMS UK, said:

“Knowing that the reason a lot of people haven’t registered as a blood stem cell donor is due to misunderstanding is in some way positive. It means this Blood Cancer Awareness Month (September) we have an opportunity to drive lifesaving action by simply shouting about how straightforward, yet vital the blood stem cell donation process is.

Taking the first steps to register as a potential blood stem cell donor can be done within a few minutes from the comfort of your own home.

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/bcam2020.

Your swabs can then be returned with the enclosed pre-paid envelope to DKMS in order to ensure that your details are added to the UK’s aligned stem cell registry.

DKMS has joined forces with 20 other charities representing people affected by rare and less common cancers in an inspirational new fundraising campaign, 20 for 20. The 20-day challenge is open to everyone. Sign-up and join Team DKMS by visiting www.20for20.org.uk.

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