A KILKEEL woman who has witnessed the life transforming benefits of stem cell donation, not once, but twice, is encouraging people to take part in a donor registration event this weekend.
Not only is Alana Campbell a donor, having transformed a French woman’s life, but her nephew, Robin Calvert, is a recipient of stem cells.
And now this Kilkeel High School teacher is calling on people to spare just a few minutes of their time on Saturday and join the stem cell register – and give hope, and in many cases, a second chance at life to gravely ill men, women and children.
The event is running between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, in the school’s assembly hall.
Alana has passionately spoken about why becoming a donor means so much to people, none more so than her own family.
Just a few years ago, when she was called up to donate her stem cells for a total stranger needing a transplant, it was a very “emotional” experience – and that was because 11 years before, her nephew Robin needed one too, having been diagnosed with the rare Chronic Gran Disorder.
“It was very emotional for me, because I’ve seen the stem cell transplant process from both sides,” says 45-year-old Alana.
“I know what it’s like for a family to be waiting for a match. Donating was nothing compared to what these families go through, and I would do it again tomorrow.”
Being selected as a ‘perfect match’ to a total stranger living thousand of miles away, Alana was thrilled with her earlier decision to sign up to the UK stem cell register via blood cancer charity DKMS.
Out of the blue, she was found to be a match for a woman in France who needed a transplant, and selflessly flew to London at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2021 to donate.
Knowing the significance of the match, and how her healthy blood cells could transform the lives of the recipient and their family, Alana recalled that, having seen her sister’s little boy undergo treatment years before, that “there was no way I was going to pull out. I knew how important it was to the recipient and her family”.
Rules in France about stem cell donation mean that Alana’s patient will always remain anonymous to her.
However, she has seen the difference a transplant has made to her nephew.
Now turned 17, Robin has just completed his GCSEs and is at college, following in his mum Leah’s footsteps by studying cookery.
Urging people to support Saturday’s registration event, Alana said someone may be giving a recipient “one of the greatest gifts of all”.
So passionate is she about this cause that Alana is now allowed, following the transplantation of her stem cells to the recipient, to once again be placed on the donor register.
Although she was able to help someone living abroad, the most recent figures show that at any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant.
Blood cancers are, as she explained, the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.
Registering as a stem cell donor is a quick and easy process involving a simple mouth swab, offering hope to blood cancer patients who are still urgently in need of a compatible stem cell match.
If you are aged between 17 and 55 and in general good health, you’re eligible to join the register with DKMS.
Alana concluded: “All it takes is five minutes of your time and three simple cheek swabs, so please come down and register.
“Once you are on the stem cell register, you’ll be a lifesaver-in-waiting for someone in need of a stem cell transplant.
“People don’t realise just how important this register is until the problem comes to your door.
“I would urge everyone who is suitable to register, as you never know what is around the corner and what the new day could bring.”
DKMS now has over one million active, registered donors in the UK – with over 12.5 million globally.
The charity’s spokesperson Deborah Hyde added: “If you are found to be a match for someone needing a transplant, as Alana was, then in nine out of ten cases, donating your stem cells is a simple process similar to giving blood.
“Every 20 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer, so you could be giving someone like Robin a second chance at life.”
Anyone unable to attend Saturday’s event at Kilkeel High School can request a swab kit online at dkms.org.uk.