BLOOD cancer charity DKMS is thanking people in Scotland for registering as potential blood stem cell donors.
While UK registrations have fallen by 28% during the pandemic, in Scotland they have risen by 19%.
However, with the race still on to find a perfect match for those in need this Valentine’s Day, Scots are being asked to register with DKMS to help save the love of someone else’s life.
Every 20 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer. 2000 people each year are dealt the shocking news that they need a blood stem cell transplant. To get a match, the genetic make-up has to be similar. With two in three of those people not finding a perfect match within their family, they must turn to the worldwide donor registry and rely on a stranger to save their lives.
For families in desperate hope for that phone call to say a match has been found, the wait is unbearable.
Three-year-old Adeline Davidson from Alness, Easter Ross, was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of blood cancer in 2019 that affects only one in 250,000 children.
With no match within her family, a blood stem cell donation from a complete stranger is Adeline’s best chance of survival.
Gareth Glynn, 32, from New Winton in East Lothian sacrificed his own honeymoon – a Scottish Highlands road trip – in 2018 to save the life of a stranger.
Alongside other rugby friends Alan Bell and Keith Wallace they have now created “Bloody Rugby” to encourage the rugby community to register.
Commenting on his experience of saving a life, he said: “Around the time I donated my blood stem cells to save a stranger’s life, a close friend was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and as a result of this urgently needed a stem cell transplant. I ... didn’t know there was something I could do to help those with it, but suddenly it was popping up in different areas of my life.”
Signing up to save the life of someone like Adeline is easy to do. Register as a potential lifesaver online at dkms.org.uk to receive a home swab kit which only takes moments to complete.
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