DKMS charity launch two-day recruitment drive for Belfast stem donors

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer. A register of stem cell donors could save their life. DKMS, the international charity dedicated to the fight against the disease and other blood disorders launched a two-day recruitment drive in Belfast today for more potential donors to sign up. Anyone between 17 and 55 years old and in general good health can join the register. It involves a simple cheek swab.

For some of those patients, a stem cell transplant will be the only way that they can recover. 70% of patients will not find a stem cell match in their family, and rely on the kindness of strangers who are willing to join the register to save their lives. Currently, only 3% of the population is currently signed up to the stem cell donor register, and 4 out of 10 UK patients looking for an unrelated donor are unable to find a match. Lesley Calder from Omagh counts herself one of the lucky ones. She did find a donor within her own family. In fact two of her siblings were a match while the third was a half-match. Not one hesitated to donate their stem cells. Her son Max subsequently became a donor and has helped save a stranger's life. Louise Banks twice donated stem cells to a young girl in Canada giving her a second chance of life. The Belfast mother of three signed up to the registry through DKMS in 2019.

She received a call to say that she was a match for a young girl desperately in need of a stem cell transplant, living in Canada. She donated her stem cells a week after her honeymoon.

Louise eventually was able to get in contact with her recipient and was delighted to hear that Sam had been accepted to study nursing at university last year. But two weeks before Sam was due to start her course, she was diagnosed again with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Louise didn’t hesitate to donate her stem cells once more, and on Christmas Day 2023, Sam learned that her second stem cell transplant had been successful. Louise said: “If it was my child waiting for a transplant I’d be shouting and screaming and hollering for someone to help and to find a match.”

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