94% of Britain won’t be able to help an Asian person with cancer. Can we count on you Sri Lankans?

LEUKAEMIA PATIENT’S MISSION TO HELP SAVE OTHERS

Nilush Aponso, 32 from Barwell in Leicestershire, is calling on people from minority ethnic backgrounds to come forward as bone marrow donors to save lives.

He has Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and has been told he needs a lifesaving bone marrow transplant. So far blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan has been unable to find him a match on bone marrow registers worldwide.

Nilush is Sri Lankan in heritage, which makes it far more difficult for Anthony Nolan to find him a match. A white northern European patient has a 90% chance of finding a match, but this falls to 40% for patients from minority ethnic backgrounds, like Nilush.

 His diagnosis came as a shock as Nilush and his partner Helen Parker thought they’d beaten leukaemia once, when he went into remission in October last year. Sadly, his leukaemia returned at the start of 2013 and Nilush has been told a bone marrow transplant is his only chance of a cure.

Selfless Nilush recognises that time is running out to find him a match, but wants to ensure others do not find themselves in the same situation through a lack of ethnic minority donors on the register.

 ‘If I could find a donor, that would be incredible’, Nilush says, ‘but there are others going through the same thing who still have time. If I could recruit just one donor who could be that lifesaver for a patient in need, I would know I’ve given something back.’

 Patients are most likely to find donors from similar ethnic backgrounds, so Nilush’s appeal is targeting the Sri Lankan community in particular. Nilush and Helen are calling on anyone between the ages of 16-30 to join the Anthony Nolan register.

‘If you’re 16-30 and in good health, signing up to the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register is so simple. You fill in a quick online application form and supply a saliva sample. That’s all it takes to become a potential match for someone like me,’ Nilush says.

Lynsey Dickson, Regional Recruitment Manager at Anthony Nolan, says: ‘For patients like Nilush, a bone marrow transplant gives the chance of a cure. A lack of awareness often stops people from signing up, but donating bone marrow is a straightforward process. 90% of people donate via a process a bit like giving blood and are back to normal home and work life the next day, knowing they’ve helped save the life of a stranger in need.’

Nilush adds: ‘My message for potential donors from ethnic minority backgrounds is this: when you need it, it’s too late, so register now and make sure other patients do not have to go through this alone.’

To join the Anthony Nolan register, you need to be between the ages of 16-30 and in good health. All potential donors stay on the register until the age of 60 and may be called to donate at any point during this time.

For more information, please contact Amy Evans on 020 7424 6645 / 07788 385 444 or email amy.evans@anthonynolan.org

Key messages

• Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.
• We need more young men aged 16-30 to sign up, as they account for 80% of bone marrow donations but make up just 14% of the register.
• We urgently need people from Black, Asian and other Ethnic Minority backgrounds to sign up, as they are currently under-represented on the register.