Warwick Marrow will host donor sign up events this Thursday

Warwick Marrow, a student run branch of the national charity Anthony Nolan, will be hosting a sign up event for Marley and Meena – who are both looking for bone marrow donors – on Thursday 1 November.

There will be sign up booths in the SU atrium, Oculus, and Maths & Stats building from 10am to 6pm. The process, which involves a cheek swab and a short form, takes less than 10 minutes.

The first patient that the event is hosted for, Marley, is a six year old boy with a life-threatening condition known as aplastic anaemia, a type of bone marrow failure.

Currently, receiving a stem cell transplant from a health donor is his last hope for a cure. His little brother was not a suitable donor. Thus, his family has been working to find his match, but has not been successful yet.

Meena, who is also looking for a donor through Warwick Marrow’s event, is a 41 year old mother of five year old twins. This March, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a type of blood cancer.

Although she was initially responsive to treatment, she relapsed. Her last chance of survival is also through a stem cell transplant from a suitable healthy donor.

Like Marley, she has not been able to find a match so far. Due to her Asian heritage, she has a lower successful rate of receiving one.

This is because patients from ethnic minority backgrounds have a 20% chance of finding suitable donors, while Caucasian patients have a 69% chance.

Regarding this issue, Warwick Marrow said: “It is so important we get more people from ethnic minority backgrounds signed up to the register, as they still remain massively underrepresented.

“Blood cancer doesn’t discriminate, so why should the donor register?”

You can find out more about Marley and Meena’s sign up events on Thursday through the Warwick Marrow Facebook Page. They regularly host sign up events for patients looking for bone marrow donors.