The families of two desperately unwell little girls on opposite sides of the country have been brought together by a Twitter campaign for bone marrow donors.
The worried mother of a sick little girl in Pitstone was ‘moved to tears’ when the family of Hollie Clark in Cardiff reached out to her on Twitter, offering to run a high profile campaign to find a bone marrow donor.
Emma supported Hollie's 'pants on your head' campaign
Hollie’s family were overjoyed this week after hearing that a bone marrow donor had been found for their 8 year old daughter, meaning her lifesaving transplant can go ahead.
Hollie, who has a rare bone marrow syndrome called Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), inspired a global social media appeal that saw celebrities including Gareth Bale, Russell Howard and Gethin Jones posting ‘pants on head’ selfies to urge people to join our register.
Thankfully a donor was found and Hollie begins chemotherapy this week ahead of her transplant later in the month. But rather than stopping there, the family have vowed to carry on the fight and are now dedicating their time to backing another mum’s desperate appeal for a bone marrow donor: Match4Emma.
Emma Whittaker, six, who is from mixed British and Iranian heritage, has been waiting for 2 years to find a donor, and time is running out for her to find a match. The family, from Pitstone in Buckinghamshire, have until October to find an unrelated donor whose tissue type characteristics match Emma's in at least eight out of 10 ways.
‘Pants on head’ will carry on… in Emma’s name
Hollie’s family saw Emma’s story on Twitter and tweeted mum Rachelle to ask if they could help by moving the ‘pants on head’ campaign on in Emma’s name. They’re now turning their efforts to Emma’s cause, even building the family a Match4Emma.com website and approaching celebrities on her behalf. Last month Hollie’s appeal led to a 2,580% increase in the number of people in Wales joining our register, and now the families are hoping to carry on this momentum.
Little Emma herself has posted her very own pant-tastic selfie, and rugby players Danny Care, Jamie Roberts, Will Carling and Austin Healy have joined Emma’s cause, posting ‘pants on head’ selfies to help find a ‘Match4Emma’.
Will Carling:
Austin Healey:
And Danny Care:
Emma’s mum Rachelle Emberton said: “Hollie’s family are so amazing. I was so touched when I read their tweet, it brought me to tears. All of a sudden we don’t feel so alone and it’s such a lift.
“Hollie’s mum and dad have so much to deal with now Hollie’s in hospital preparing for her transplant and they have very difficult times ahead, so it is incredible they’re thinking of others at this time. It just shows the kindness of strangers, and that there are good people out there.”
'It’s been a really difficult time, but this has given us the boost we needed'
Emma was diagnosed aged four with Fanconi Anaemia, which in most cases leads to bone marrow failure and leukaemia unless the patient is given a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Her brother James was tested to see if he was a match, but during this process they discovered he had the same condition and would also need a life-saving donation in the future.
Thankfully, James has found a perfect match on the register. But doctors say Emma now faces the last resort of a stem cell transplant from one of her parents, even though they are only a 50% match.
“Emma’s search for a donor is getting much more urgent now, so it’s been a really difficult time, but this has given us the boost we needed,” said Rachelle.
'We want to carry on the momentum to help parents in a similar position'
Hollie’s mum Laura Clark, a GP from Cardiff, said: “Someone out there, who has never met Hollie, came forward to help us in our time of need, and now we want to pay it forward and do the same thing for Emma.
“Not many people out there can imagine the feeling of looking for the one special person who can save your child’s life. It's not a position you ever want to be in. It is despair, fear and terror, and we only faced it for a few weeks. To think of Emma’s family going through this ordeal for two years is just unthinkable.
“We built up such a huge celebrity and social media following in the short time we’ve been campaigning for more donors to join the Anthony Nolan register, and rather than let this go to waste we want to carry on the momentum to help parents in a similar position. Our message to mums like Rachelle is to keep positive and stay strong. We will be there for you, that’s a promise.”
Rebecca Sedgwick, National Register Development Manager at Anthony Nolan, said: “It is remarkable to see the power of social media to not only spread the word about the bone marrow register and save lives as a result, but also to bring together two families from opposite ends of the country who truly understand what each other are going through.
“Both families are facing unimaginably difficult times, so we are enormously grateful to them for their tireless campaigning and support for our work.”
How you can help
If you're aged 16–30 and in good health, you can join the register by clicking the button below:
