42-year-old Sonia Akow has been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, a form of blood cancer, just months after her mother died of the same disease. Doctors have told Sonia that a bone marrow transplant is her best hope of survival, and she is now working urgently with Anthony Nolan and the Afro-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust to find a matching bone marrow donor.
Sonia, who works in London as a music publicist, is also calling on people from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds to sign up as bone marrow donors, as they are underrepresented on the Anthony Nolan register. She is holding a recruitment event on Tuesday 26 February from 2pm-8pm in Shepherd’s Bush & Saturday 2 March from 11-5pm at the Tabernacle Ladbroke Grove .
Toby, Sonia’s partner, says, “Joining the register gives each of us the amazing opportunity to save a life. I would do anything to save Sonia. I’m therefore asking for your generosity today – please take a moment out of your life to save someone else’s.’’
Lynsey Dickson, regional recruitment manager at Anthony Nolan, adds, “Sonia’s background makes it much more difficult to find a matching donor for her – her mother was Caucasian while her father is from Trinidad. We want as many people from ethnic minority backgrounds to come forward and join the register, to help save the lives of people like Sonia. If you’re unable to attend the event, you can always sign up online by visiting www.anthonynolan.org/register.”
If you’re aged 16–30, you can join the Anthony Nolan register by simply filling in a short application form and providing a small saliva sample. If you’re aged 31-49 and a blood donor, you can join the British Bone Marrow Register the next time you donate blood.
The music community are also coming together for a night of bass, DnB, breaks and dubstep, when they hold a fundraising event on Thursday 28th March at The Egg in Kings Cross. More details about the event, which will raise money for all the charities involved, will be released shortly.
Event details:
Date: Tuesday 26 February
Time: 2 – 8pm
Address: SHEPHERDS BAR - SHEPHERDS BUILDING, CHARECROFT WAY, LONDON, W14 0DA
Date: Saturday 2 March
Time: 11 – 5pm
Address: THE TABERNACLE, 35 POWIS SQUARE, LADBROKE GROVE, LONDON W11 2AY
For more information, please call our press team on 020 7424 6588 (Out of hours: 0844 840 0103) or email press@anthonynolan.org.
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