Loughborough doctor Kaanthan Jawahar has donated his bone marrow to a stranger in an attempt to save their life. He is now encouraging more people from Asian backgrounds to step forward and join the bone marrow register.
Kaanthan joined Anthony Nolan’s register eight years ago, when university volunteering group KCL Marrow were recruiting students to the bone marrow register.
Kaanthan, 26, says, ‘I joined up on the spot because it sounded like something everyone should do. At the time, they told me I had a higher chance of being called up because I am Asian and there aren’t enough donors from ethnic minority backgrounds on the register.’
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow (or stem cell) donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of bone marrow transplants. Kaanthan donated in June this year by Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) collection, a procedure similar to giving blood.
‘I was surprised when I found out that I was a match for someone but I didn’t hesitate. I knew that it was something that I would go through with. The actual donation was fine. I sat in a bed for a few hours, had my blood filtered, and watched a few TV shows. I felt quite tired afterwards but was back to normal within a couple of days.
‘I didn’t think much about the recipient until the donation. As a doctor, I know that when someone is asking for a bone marrow transplant, it really is their last chance. So taking a couple of days out of my life to give someone that chance seemed like nothing in comparison.
‘People think that donating your bone marrow is a horrible and scary procedure which puts a lot of people off. But when people find out how simple it is, I think most people would sign up.’
Ann O’Leary, Head of Register Development at Anthony Nolan, says, ‘Kaanthan has done an incredible and selfless thing by donating his bone marrow to a stranger and giving them the best chance of survival. People from ethnic minority backgrounds are under-represented on the donor register, which means that we can only find a suitable donor for around 40% of patients from these backgrounds in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant. We urgently need more people from Asian backgrounds to step forward and sign up as potential lifesavers, just like Kaanthan did.’