People in North East Wales are being urged to back a donor drive to help fight blood cancer.
Wrexham MP Ian Lucas has put his backing behind the Anthony Nolan charity’s search for local heroes to join their bone marrow register. The charity has mapped each constituency across the UK and Wrexham, with 321 donors registered, needs more donors to join the fight against blood cancer. More than 525,000 people are currently on the Anthony Nolan register and the average per constituency is 796.
The charity, now in its 40th anniversary year, set up the world’s first bone marrow register. Two thirds of UK patients will not find a matching donor from within their families; instead they turn to Anthony Nolan to find them an unrelated donor. But the charity can currently only find a match for around half of those who to come to them in desperate need, and they still urgently need more people to come forward.
Mr Lucas said: “Each donor is offering a stranger help at a crucial point and I am hugely impressed by every person who signs up.
“It is great that 321 people have already come forward but the challenge for Wrexham is to find more donors. We also need people to spread the word so I’d encourage everyone to look at what they can do to help.”
Ann O’Leary, Head of Register Development at Anthony Nolan, says: ‘We are delighted that Ian Lucas has been inspired to encourage others to sign up as donors. Donating is an incredibly selfless thing to do and will give someone with blood cancer their best chance at survival. What many people don’t realise is that it is also surprisingly simple.’
To join the Anthony Nolan register you must be 16-30 and in good health. It involves filling out a simple online form and spitting into a tube.
Find out how you can help by going to www.anthonynolan.org/superhero
