Saving the lives of people like Mark

"When I finally met Audrey, I was shocked just how deeply it moved me."

Sport is my passion and I’d always considered myself to be healthy. So when I was diagnosed with leukaemia it naturally came as a huge shock, particularly at the age of 31.

After drug treatments failed, I was told what I really needed for a cure was a transplant. I knew there was only a small chance of finding me a match, because of my mixed race background.

But Anthony Nolan found a donor using their links with a register in America. I had the transplant in January 2004. Six months later, the doctors told me I was in remission.

In 2012, I flew to New York to meet my donor, Audrey. The true impact of her decision to join the bone marrow registry hit me. It had not only affected my life, it had affected Audrey’s life, the lives of my family, my girlfriend’s family and her family too. So many lives had been affected in such a profound way by Audrey’s decision to sign up.

My donor saved my life. Thanks to her, I am now able to look forward to a future with my partner Andrea, our family and friends.

I will be forever grateful. Without my donor, and without a register, I probably wouldn’t be here.
 
Your tissue type is broadly linked to your ethnicity. People from BAME backgrounds are under represented on our register which can make it harder to find a match.

Donate today and help add more potential lifesavers to our register. With more donors, we can find more matches and give more people, like Mark, the chance of life.