Chelsea fan Paul Walshe will put football rivalries aside this week as he celebrates the five year anniversary of his bone marrow transplant – after Everton supporter Andy Mitchell helped save his life by donating his bone marrow.
Paul, 41, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2007, and doctors told him that a bone marrow transplant was his last chance of survival. Unknown to him, Merseyside resident Andy Mitchell had joined the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register in 2006 after seeing a television appeal for new donors.
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow donors with blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.
Andy, 40, was told that he was a match for a patient in February 2008, and donated his bone marrow six months later. In December, he received a Christmas card from his recipient, thanking him for his act of selflessness.
“We had to remain anonymous for the first two years after Paul’s transplant,” says Andy, who now volunteers for Anthony Nolan. “But when Anthony Nolan told me that my recipient wanted to meet me, I agreed straightaway. Because football is so important to both of us, I took him to Goodison Park to watch Everton play Chelsea – we’ve been friends ever since.”
Paul adds, “Five years ago, I was about to have my bone marrow transplant, knowing that it was my only chance of a cure, of having a future with my wife, family and friends. Five years later I’ve just spent an hour chatting to my donor. Andy says that donating has completely changed his life – but it saved mine.”
Anthony Nolan particularly needs more young men aged 16–30 to join the register. Potential donors can sign up at www.anthonynolan.org, where they will need to fill in a short application form and provide a saliva sample.