Meet Shaffi - she's the first interviewee in our new series of stem cell donor blogs. We'll be regularly catching up with amazing people who've donated lifesaving bone marrow or stem cells, to see how they found the experience, and to dispel some of the myths around donating.
How did you originally hear about Anthony Nolan and when did you join the register?
I think I'd always been vaguely aware of Anthony Nolan and what they did, although I doubt that, if pressed, I would have been able to explain fully.
However, it didn't occur to me to sign up to Anthony Nolan officially. It was only in my second year of university in 2012, whilst wandering through the campus restaurant, I was waylaid by two medical students who knew a fair bit more than I ever had.
From then, it was a matter of spitting in a cup, filling in some details and wandering away to buy a portion of chips. 6 months later, I received an urgent email saying that I was potentially a match.
How would you describe the experience of donating stem cells?
If I'm honest, a tad boring. It mainly involved sitting around being fed by very friendly people, waiting for my blood stem cells to be harvested. Everyone was absolutely lovely and really warm when it became clear why I was in, but it wasn't very glamorous! That said, I did catch up on watching a new film. It wasn't painful- beyond the initial catheter insertion- and I was able to sit around chatting with the aforementioned lovely people. All in all, I wouldn't mind doing it again.
Watch a video of Shaffi's donation process
How does it feel to potentially save a life?
Incredible. I feel humbled to know that in a not-so-small way, my life is inextricably linked to somebody else's. I'm a firm believer in global communities- the idea of human connections that span cultures and borders, and I feel that in being able to donate and help someone in that way, my own life is infinitely improved. I was given the opportunity to potentially save a life, and I was privileged enough to be able to take it: how many people can say that?
What would you say to others to encourage them to sign up as a potential stem cell donor?
Do it. Sign up now, whether you're on the register for 6 years without a match or 6 months, the potential to make such a massive difference to somebody's life is both humbling and awe-inspiring.
You will never regret being able to perform such a huge act of kindness and compassion- plus, all the nurses are really nice.
On an additional note, as a Black woman, I feel passionately that BME individuals should join the register. Beyond the previously mentioned compassionate reasons, on a purely selfish basis, I am very conscious of the fact that it is that bit harder for ethnic minorities to find matching donors. I want to increase our odds just that little bit more.
You can find out more about the need for more BME individuals to join our register at www.anthonynolan.org/africancaribbean
Inspired by Shaffi's story? If you're aged 16–30, click on the button below to join our register:
