A mother is battling against the clock to find a matching bone marrow donor who could save her life.
Nikki Braterman, 45, from Brighton, has acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and has been told that a bone marrow transplant offers her best chance of a cure.
However, Nikki’s search for a donor is very complicated. She has an unusual ethnic background and requires a perfect match, due to a medical complication. This is proving hard to find.
Nikki, who has two children, aged four and seven, said: “I’m a mum to two small children and I want to see them grow up. If you are reading this story and think that you may be able to help then please, please join the register or support Anthony Nolan in other ways, you might just be able to save my life or that of someone else in the same position.”
Her husband, Geoff Braterman, added: “We are desperately and urgently seeking a perfect match donor for my beautiful wife, Nikki. I don’t want to lose her and I don’t want my kids to grow up without their mum.
“The right donor is out there somewhere - we just need to find them quickly.”
Nikki's story
Nikki first fell ill in October last year. She began to suffer from fatigue but initially put her symptoms down to the pressures of modern life.
However, she then developed flu-like symptoms which she could not shake off and which became progressively worse.
In December 2013 she went to her GP and was referred to hospital for tests. The following day, which was a Tuesday, she was given the devastating news that she had AML and she started chemotherapy just three days later, on the Friday.
After four rounds of chemotherapy she was able to return home to her family in June this year. She seemed to be making steady progress and was told she was in remission.
But then, at the end of August this year, Nikki started to experience some worrying symptoms. She noticed some strange tingling sensations in her body and developed hot sweats and shivers.
She was readmitted to hospital for tests and was told last Wednesday that leukaemia cells had been found in her central nervous system which is very rare.
A perfect match is needed
As her symptoms have progressed rapidly, Nikki has been told she will need further chemotherapy to get the leukaemia under control and then a bone marrow transplant.
Currently, it is thought that she will need to have the transplant in about three months’ time and her doctors have asked Anthony Nolan to search worldwide registers for a possible donor.
Nikki has two brothers who have both been tested but, sadly, neither are matches for her.
Finding a match for Nikki is not simple. Her mother is Anglo-Burmese and her father is Irish meaning that she has a very rare tissue type. Unusually, she also has extremely aggressive antibodies meaning that it is too risky for her to receive a transplant from anyone but a perfect, 10/10 match.
Therefore, a possible match who was found in France has been ruled out as they were only a 9/10 match.
Nikki’s doctors have also had to rule out the possibility of a stem cell transplant using umbilical cord blood as they are unable to find any that would be able to get past the antibodies.
Nikki said: “I am desperately seeking people of a similar ethnic background to volunteer as potential stem cell donors through their national registry.
“The best chance is probably to find someone Anglo-Burmese and Irish, but it could be Anglo-Indian, or any Anglo-Asian mix. Anyone in particular with a Portuguese type surname in their blood line would be a good possibility, as that’s my background.”
If you would like the opportunity to help save the life of Nikki, or another patient like her, click on the button below.
Follow Nikki's campaign on Twitter @perfectttenmatch, where she's had support from celebrities including Alan Sugar, Zoe Ball and Tim Minchim.
DEAR TWEEPS pls RT for young brighton mum needing bone marrow donor match THANKS z x @SallyEBrien: @perfecttenmatch http://t.co/s79nfnSuue”
— Zoe Ball (@ZoeTheBall) September 15, 2014
Please RT - Help find a donor @perfecttenmatch who needs a bone marrow stem cell transplant to cure her leukaemia http://t.co/vx73yCFb2t
— Lord Sugar (@Lord_Sugar) September 16, 2014
How the Anthony Nolan register works
Anyone age 16 to 30, who is in good health and who weighs more than 7st 12lbs can join the Anthony Nolan register and 90 per cent of donations take place through a process similar to giving blood.
It is particularly important for young men and people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds to sign up. This is because these groups are currently under-represented on the register.
As a result, Anthony Nolan is currently able to find a perfect match for 60 per cent of northern European patients, but only for 20 per cent of patients from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.