2.11.12
You might have been a little taken aback to be asked to donate your spit on campus, but it’s all part of a push to find bone marrow donors.
The Leeds University Union branch of the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity, ‘Marrow’ held a drop in session on Thursday urging students to add their names to the bone marrow register.
Students were asked to spit a few gobfuls of their finest saliva into a small test tube. The spit is then sent to a lab to be screened to find out if their bone barrow was a medical match to someone in need of a transplant. If students prove to be a match, the follow up – which may not be for many years – involves a course of injections and visits to London for a medical check up followed by a four-hour procedure to extract stem cells.
The charity, which organises student-run branches across the UK, signed up nearly 10,000 students from over 40 universities in 2011. Last year, Leeds Marrow alone signed up over a quarter of that total.
At the latest session this week, over 400 Leeds students were added to the register – far more than the society expected.
Nick Raynor, a Leeds Marrow volunteer and Medicine student, explained to Leeds Student how important it is for people to get involved. “For many people a stem cell transplant is their last chance of life. However, 70 per cent of people who need a transplant are relying on finding a stranger who is a match, and 50 per cent never find a match as a suitable donor isn’t on the register.”
As a volunteer and treasurer for Leeds Marrow from 2010-12, Leeds student Calum signed up to the register. This March, he was found to be a potential match for someone. Calum admits that he was “very surprised” by the news, but says: “It’s amazing to know that my stem cells are going to be transplanted into someone and could save their life. It’s an amazing feeling”.
Due to the anonymous nature of the procedure, Calum still doesn’t know the identity of the person he helped, but they would be allowed to meet up in two years if they wanted to.
To see Calum’s video diary of the procedure and for more information about Leeds Marrow and Anthony Nolan visit, go to www.leedsmarrow.co.uk
Words: Kat Garvey
Photo: Max Bruges