Twelve weeks ago my cousin's daughter was a healthy and happy 10 year old, enjoying a sleepover for her birthday and dancing with her friends way past her bedtime. Then all of a sudden, just after Christmas, her parents noticed strange bruising on her body. They didn't think it was anything serious but took her to her GP who ran her bloods. When the results came back everyone was in shock - they showed that her bone marrow had suddenly stopped working and after various tests she was diagnosed with a very rare and incredibly serious blood condition called aplastic anemia.
She is now in hospital having regular transfusions of red blood cells and platelets which are keeping her alive. In order to be cured she needs a stem cell transplant, and fast.
Her brother sadly isn't a match. Nor is anyone currently on the stem cell donor registry. My beautiful relative is now very poorly in hospital and is reliant on a total stranger to do something amazing and donate some of their stem cells to save her life.
I had no idea, but 90% of stem cell donations are taken from a donor's blood in much the same way as giving blood - it's pretty simple, yet it could save someone's life.
If you are reading this, please could you consider joining the donor stem cell registry. You could be the match that my god daughter needs. A group of her friends have set up a campaign called #swabyourgob and you can sign up to join the registry by ordering your free mouth swab kit from www.dkms.org.uk/swabyourgob
Even if you are not a match for her, you could be for the many people each year who need the kindness of a total stranger to save their lives.
Thank you so much for reading x