Sheffield University students in bid to recruit more bone marrow and stem cell donors

University of Sheffield students who are members of Marrow, a student volunteering group which recruits young donors for the Anthony Nolan register, are backing the worldwide ‘Match4Lara’ appeal to help find a stem cell match for student Lara Casalotti, who is struggling to find a donor.

The 24-year-old, who is half Chinese-Thai and half Italian, has an aggressive blood cancer and has been told a stem cell transplant is her best chance of survival.

But only one in five transplant patients from an ethnic minority or mixed race background currently find a ‘perfect match’.

Marrow members in Sheffield will set up a ‘spit kit’ clinic at the university’s Students’ Union on February 15.

Students spit into a test tube and once their saliva is tested their details are logged on the register.

Jemma Mickleburgh, President of Sheffield Marrow, said: “I would encourage all students to come to our events to register, but in particular we need more people from ethnic minority backgrounds.”