When Emma and Fi Parkinson's cousin Kitty needed a bone marrow transplant, they decided to do something amazing - they held their very own Marrowthon raising over £13,000 towards our lifesaving work.
Kitty was diagnosed with APML Leukaemia in August 2011. She was treated at Southampton Hospital and finished her treatment in December 2013.
Unfortunately it was confirmed in February 2014 that Kitty's Leukaemia had returned and her only hope of survival was a bone marrow transplant. This is when Emma and Fi's idea for Spit4Kit began.
Emma, Kitty and FI in their Spit4Kit t-shirts
Spit4Kit is the appeal Emma and Fi set up to get people to sign up to the register to try and find a match for Kitty. They immediately got a Facebook page set up to try and get as many people as possible to sign up and become potential donors.
A remarkable 111 people joined the register after inspired by the campaign, including Kitty's sister Millie.
Fortunately, a few months later, a match was found. And after the transplant and 5 weeks in isolation Kitty returned home, just in time to celebrate her 18th birthday.
Emma and Fi didn't stop there. To raise money and awareness, they decided to create an exciting event called "The Great Marrowthon" which involved a route between Anthony Nolan HQ and the hospital where Kitty was treated throughout her illness.
The idea was for all Kitty's friends and family to get involved with a leg of the journey and pass on the Marrow baton - there were cyclists, runners and even some on scooters!
The girl's Initial target was to raise £11,100 to cover the register costs for the 111 sign ups.
The Spit4Kit team at Southampton Hospital
After months of planning, posting on Facebook and even getting t-shirts made, the event took place last weekend and they absolutely smashed their target. So far they have raised an amazing £13,590.28 and the total is still rising!
Nancy Gray, Community Coordinator at Anthony Nolan, said: ‘The fundraising that Emma, Fi and Kitty's friends and family have done has made such a big difference to people with blood cancer. It costs £100 to recruit each person to the Anthony Nolan register, so fundraising is a vital part of our lifesaving work. The more fundraising we do, the more potential donors we can recruit onto the bone marrow register, and the more lives we can save.’
How you can help:
To support Spit4Kit and the Marrowthon you can sponsor them here.
To join the register, you must be aged between 16 and 30, weigh more than 7st 12lbs (50kgs) and be in general good health. For more information about joining the register please visit here.
