Daughter's campaign leads to huge increase in bone marrow donors

A daughter's campaign to find a bone marrow match for her mother has led to a 500% increase in Jewish donors.

Caroline Berger appeared on ITV News in London to appeal for a donor for her mother Sharon who has been told she needs an urgent bone marrow transplant within weeks to save her life.

Anne O'Leary from Anthony Nolan told viewers "if someone needs a bone marrow transplant, it is often their last chance of survival. But first they need to find a matching donor, which can prove difficult for people from unusual ethnic backgrounds like Sharon.

We know that the best possible match is likely to be someone from a similar background so we’re urging all Jewish people aged 16-30 to come forward and join the register.”

Caroline describedthe search to find her mother a donor s a rac against time. She said" Although a match is most likely to come from a Jewish person withAshkenazi heritage, we would like to grow the bone marrow register so thateveryone can benefit."

Caroline and her brother Jonni have also started a twitter campaign #Spit4Mum in order to spread the word. The campaign has seen hundreds of people visit Anthony Nolan’s website, and it has also been picked up and retweeted by a number of celebrities and journalists