Dear Editor, A Bath woman is leading a campaign to sign up more potential stem cell donors to help those with leukaemia diagnoses working in partnership with blood cancer charity DKMS.
Regina Brophy, a grandmother who lives in Bath, lost her own father to leukaemia. Now tragically, her late best friend’s son – himself a father of three – has also received a leukaemia diagnosis.
She said he is currently in quarantine in hospital undergoing intensive chemotherapy and may require a life-saving stem cell transplant in a few months’ time.
By registering as a donor, you could give hope to people waiting to find their stem cell match, who are relying on the stem cell register for a second chance at life.
Signing up is a quick and easy process involving some painless mouth swabs: if you are aged 17-55 and in general good health, you’re eligible to join the register with DKMS. And if you were then matched with someone needing a transplant, in nine out of ten cases donating is a simple, outpatient process similar to donating blood platelets.
DKMS is one of the most significant non-profit organisations in the world dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. Founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr Peter Harf, DKMS and the organisation’s over 1,500 employees have since relentlessly pursued the aim of giving as many patients as possible a second chance at life.
Things you didn’t know about blood cancer:
1. Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer.
2. Blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
3. Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.
4. At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant
You can register at www.dkms.org.uk
Regina Brophy, Bath
Event details:
Saturday 13 September
10am–4pm
Lansdown Tennis, Squash and Croquet Club, Northfields, Bath, BA1 5TN
About DKMS: DKMS is one of the most significant non-profit organisations in the world dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. Founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr Peter Harf, DKMS and the organisation’s over 1,500 employees have since relentlessly pursued the aim of giving as many patients as possible a second chance at life. With more than 12.5 million registered donors, DKMS has succeeded in doing this over 125,000 times to date by providing blood stem cell donations to those in need. This accomplishment has led to DKMS becoming the global leader in the facilitation of unrelated blood stem cell transplants. The organisation has offices in Germany, the US, Poland, the UK, Chile, and South Africa. In India, DKMS has founded the joint venture DKMS-BMST together with the Bangalore Medical Services Trust. International expansion and collaboration are key to helping patients worldwide because like the organisation itself, blood cancer knows no borders. DKMS is also heavily involved in the fields of medicine and science, with its own research unit focused on continually improving the survival and recovery rate of patients. www.dkms.org.uk