This month, a student at the University of Sheffield donated her bone marrow in an attempt to give someone with blood cancer or a blood disorder the best chance of survival.
Emily Heyward first heard about the need for bone marrow donors ten years ago, when one of her teachers died because she was unable to find a suitable donor for a bone marrow transplant.
Finding a matching donor for patients can be very challenging and we're currently only able to find a suitable donor for half of patients in need.
Emily joined the bone marrow donor register through Sheffield Marrow, a student volunteering group which works with us to recruit bone marrow donors. We have Marrow groups in over 40 universities across the UK.
How Emily donated
Joining the donor register is easy - all you have to do is spit in a tube. We can then test your sample and add you to our database. Once you've joined, we'll get in touch at any time if we find out you're a suitable match for someone who needs a bone marrow transplant.
In most cases, the donation process takes place by Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) collection, a four hour procedure which is similar to giving blood. In the week leading up to her donation, Emily received a series of injections which stimulated her stem cells to circulate in her blood. When she arrived in London, her blood was taken from one arm, her stem cells were taken out, and the blood was replaced back into her other arm.
'I didn't think twice about it'
Emily says, “As soon as I heard how quick and easy it is to join the register, I didn’t think twice about it. I would encourage anyone to do the same.”
One of our representatives was in contact with Emily for guidance and support throughout the process, so she felt no anxiety about the procedure at all.
We need more young people to follow Emily’s lead and join the bone marrow donor register – you could be the best chance of survival for someone with blood cancer.
How you can help
Here at Anthony Nolan, we set up the world's first bone marrow register, and 2014 sees our 40th anniversary of saving lives. For four decades we've matched remarkable people willing to donate their bone marrow to patients in desperate need of a transplant.
Want to follow in Emily's footsteps? If you're aged 16–30 and in good health, join the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register online here and help us save lives.
Find out more about our Marrow student volunteering groups and how you can join here.