Blood cancer charity is urging people in Sheffield to help save lives

And now the charity is urging people in the city to register as blood stem cell donors to reverse the shocking decline and potentially help save a life.

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and unbeknown to 72 per cent of people in the North East, 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.

The survey found that while people in the North East want to help people with blood cancer, there is still widespread confusion and uncertainty about what blood stem cell donation is and what it entails which is holding people back. Over half of respondents admitted to not knowing that blood stem cell donation can be an effective treatment for people with blood cancer and while 70 per cent said they would definitely donate their blood stem cells to help save a life, less than one per cent have registered to become a blood stem cell donor during the pandemic, showing a gap in action, intention and awareness.

Myla Mae Hatcher, aged four, from Sheffield was diagnosed with the life-threatening severe aplastic anaemia, a deficiency of all three blood cell types – white, red and platelets. 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: “It was the worst week of our lives when Myla was diagnosed. We thought because she had been so well, it couldn’t be anything serious. The hospital called to tell us and first of all we were relieved as they said it wasn’t leukaemia, but instead it was a very severe type of aplastic anaemia. It’s so rare we’d never heard of it. Sadly Myla’s gone through much the same procedures and treatment as for leukaemia, it’s been tough but we’re so grateful and lucky to have found a match for her.”

Register at dkms.org.uk/bcam2020.

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