December 5, 2014

Did you know, that if you’re a blood donor…

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Margot receives platelets in early September

Margot receives platelets in early September

Like all leukaemia patients, Margot relied heavily on blood products, receiving many red cell & platelet transfusions to maintain her wellbeing.

THANK YOU to all the heroic blood donors out there, like our friend James Stibbs who recently gave blood for the first time #margotmademedoit

imageDonating blood & platelets is different from joining the stem cell register. That may sound like an obvious statement, but I recently met a young lady who was in her tenth year of blood donation and she was totally unaware of the need for more stem cell recruits & the ease with which she could join the registry the next time she donates blood. An extra 5ml sample is all that’s required.

Approximately 2.5 million amazing people in the UK give blood (around 4% of the population).  By comparison, there are less than 1 million potential stem cell donors in the UK, which is quite surprising because joining the stem cell registry is quicker & easier than giving blood and it’s a ‘one time’ action only.

Like the young lady I met, I can only assume that people simply don’t know about stem cells and the desperate need that exists, nor how they might so easily help.

If  you are a regular blood donor but haven’t yet joined the stem cell registry, the next time you give blood, please enquire about giving a bit extra whilst you’re there, for the purposes of becoming a potential stem cell donor.

Thereafter, you have a roughly 1 in 1,200 chance of actually being asked to donate your stem cells. At which point, you’re likely to save someone’s life. Again.

Find out how to register as a potential stem cell donor: https://www.teammargot.com/how-to-register/

Thank you.

teammargot.com

Husband to Vicki and father to Oscar (2007), Rufus (2008), Digby (2015), Humphrey (2017) & Margot (2012-2014)

Posted in: Journal