#SaveBobbysMum: TOWIE’s Bobby Cole Norris is looking for the one person who could save his mum’s life
Bobby Norris has today gone public with his urgent search for a bone marrow (or stem cell) donor to save his mother’s life.
Very recently, Bobby, 27 year-old star of The Only Way Is Essex, received the shattering news that his mother Kym Norris had been diagnosed with leukaemia, aged just 54.
Now a bone marrow transplant is the “best hope” for Kym, a full time dental receptionist, says Bobby, who is an only child with a very close relationship with his mum. "My mum means the world to me and I love her to the moon and back," says Bobby.
Bobby and his mum Kym
'Living a nightmare'
“The last few weeks have felt like I have been living a nightmare, and I can't wake up from it. My mum is my best friend, I'm devastated. I didn’t really know anything about leukaemia at all, I thought it was a cancer that only children could get – now everything’s just turned upside down for me. It’s just so much to take in but I’m spending every day at the hospital with Mum, and I’m learning as we go. I now know that for people who need a transplant, it’s usually their last chance.”
Less than a month ago, it was business as usual for the fashion designer and his mum Kym. “ I was filming for TOWIE and everything was as normal. Mum seemed herself and was physically doing everything she has always done on a daily basis, like walking to work and back, keeping the house in order and dog-sitting for my dog Beau. A few weeks ago she started feeling a bit run down and tired, but other than that things were still really normal.”
Devastating news for Kym and Bobby
Kym had some standard blood tests, and devastatingly, the results revealed she had a form of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukaemia. “Mum was rushed to hospital that very same day, and hasn’t been allowed home since,” says Bobby.
“We’re being brave for each other. I know she doesn’t want me to see her upset or scared and vice versa, so we’re both keeping strong for each other when I visit, but as soon as I get outside the hospital and into the car park, that's when I’m breaking down in tears.”
Kym has been receiving intense chemotherapy twice a day, but the doctors told the family last week that this alone would not be enough to cure her of the cancer.
A bone marrow transplant is Kym's best hope
“We were told that Mum has a gene that will prevent the chemotherapy working to its full potential, and that her best hope of survival now is a bone marrow transplant,” explained Bobby.
“I’m an only child and my mum had lost contact with her brother, but we have recently managed to track him down to arrange a test to see if he is a potential match for mum, but siblings aren't always guaranteed matches – the vast majority of people have to rely on finding an unrelated donor.
“So it’s now a waiting game to see if we can find a stranger on the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register who is a match for Mum and who is willing to donate their stem cells to her. It could literally be anyone – I recently found myself passing strangers at Lakeside Shopping Centre or traffic lights, and thinking, you could be a match for my mum or somebody else suffering from this terrible disease.”
#SaveBobbysMum and join the register
Bobby is now lending his support to blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, which runs the UK bone marrow register and is marking its fortieth anniversary this week. He has launched a Twitter appeal #SaveBobbysMum and is urging fans to sign up.
“I know I’m not the only one this is happening to. There are other families being told the same news every single day – today, this evening, tomorrow. Two thirds of them will rely on Anthony Nolan to find them their lifesaving donor.
“I feel completely helpless right now, but all I can do apart from being there for Mum is to try to raise awareness of the Anthony Nolan register, particularly to young people who are much more likely to go onto donate and save a life."
Would you help a stranger?
Bobby is now backing an Anthony Nolan campaign which launched this week, calling on people to ‘save a stranger’s life’.
“A stranger to one person is another person’s mum,” explains Bobby. “For the donor, it’s probably just a case of sitting still for a few hours while the stem cells are taken out of their blood. But for me, and for families like mine, it’s the difference between having my mum around or not. It’s everything. These donors are lifesavers and I’m bowled over by the kindness of strangers who do this.”
To join the Anthony Nolan register, you must be aged between 16 and 30 and in good health.
Bobby urges everybody who is eligible to be on the Anthony Nolan register to please register their details and one day potentially save somebody's life. “We only ever get one mum, so let's look after them and each other’s, and sign up to be on the Anthony Nolan register," he added.
We urgently need young people to join the register
Ann O’Leary, Head of Register Development at Anthony Nolan said: “We can’t thank Bobby enough for helping to spread the word about donating stem cells, particularly at such a difficult time for his family.
There are still many misconceptions out there about what’s involved. For example, most people don’t know that nine times out of ten, the process is very similar to giving blood, and joining the register just involves spitting into a tube.
“Bobby is also absolutely right that we urgently need young people to come forward and join the register, particularly men aged 16 to 30 as they’re currently underrepresented. Any one of Bobby’s fans who he inspires to join the register, could one day save a life - but unless they sign up, they’ll never have this chance.”
Sign up today or support Anthony Nolan’s lifesaving work by donating to Bobby’s JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/BobbyNorris
#SaveBobbysMum