WHEN Eoghan Rua, Coleraine footballer Jack McKenna signed up to the stem cell register after a minor training session three years ago, little did he think his actions would end up saving a life.
He was aware of the register because his late uncle had been able to receive a bone marrow transplant when one of his siblings proved a match. That’s the case for 25 per cent of those who require transplants.
Eoghan Rua’s senior goalkeeper Ryan McGeough volunteers for the
[ Anthony Nolan TrustOpens in new window ]
and gave the talk three years ago that saw McKenna sign up along with 60 others from the club.
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McGeough’s own father Val had needed a bone marrow transplant 12 years ago, for which his brother Martin was able to donate.
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TO SIGN UP NOW
Visit
[ www.anthonynolan.org/belfastmarrowOpens in new window ]
(age 16-30) or
[ DKMS.org.ukOpens in new window ]
(age 30-55)
For more info, contact Belfast Marrow on Facebookor
[ TwitterOpens in new window ]
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Those join the register for donations do so for both stem cells and bone marrow transplants.
Neither process is particularly intrusive on the donor. Giving stem cells is similar to donating blood only over a few hours, while bone marrow donations ordinarily leave a stiffness for a few days before all returns to normal.
All that is required to sign up is a swab of saliva. That’s it.
It is such a tiny price to pay when you consider what those receiving the transplant gain from it.
“A transplant is their last chance of life,” says McGeough.
Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
Stem cells are used to treat blood cancers. They are the most common type of cancer among children in the north, and the fifth most common in adults.
In the north alone, 99 people a month are diagnosed with various types of blood cancer, such as leukaemia.
Try to imagine the pain and frustration of a loved one needing a transplant and knowing the chances of finding a donor are not anywhere near what they might be.
Only 2 per cent of the UK population is currently registered to donate? It’s less than 1 per cent of adults in the north, and fewer again in the Republic.
Jack McKenna signed up that night three years ago and up until July this year, he heard nothing more of it.
Then a text arrived on his phone and within three days it was established that Jack was a 98 per cent match with the recipient, who it turned out was in America.
His donation was of stem cells rather than bone marrow. Nine in ten people who are called from the register are required to give stem cells.
It is life-saving for those who receive.
“I [had] been informed of [the] possible side-effects but none of these compare with the reality of another person’s life depending of this procedure,” says Jack.
The Anthony Nolan trust are desperately trying to increase the numbers on the register.
GAA clubs, along with schools and universities, have become critical to that.
The trust focuses on young people aged 16-30.
For someone joining the register between the ages of 16 and 21, there is a 1 per cent chance of being a match for someone in their lifetime.
From 16-30, the chance is around one in 300. Over that age bracket and it’s around 880/1. Anyone older than 30 interested can register with a German charity called DKMS.
What the Anthony Nolan Trust needs is access to people.
GAA clubs have generally been receptive but the volunteer numbers aren’t massive and signing people up can be a labour-intensive process for them.
McGeough can get into clubs where he knows people, and when he does, the talks tend to produce results.
Almost 1,000 people have been signed up through events at GAA clubs in the north (the Anthony Nolan Trust cannot sign up people in the Republic, who are able to join the register through the Irish blood transfusion service).
Any access to schools tends to come through personal relationships with teachers, with attempts to drive education and awareness of their work to treat blood cancers through the national curriculum falling on deaf ears.
Belfast Marrow are an offshoot volunteer group based at Queen’s University.
On one day in UU Coleraine, with the help of then-Sports President Emma Bonner, they signed up 417 people. Of those, statistically four will donate at some point in their lives.
Signing up requires so little of yourself that it’s barely worth a second thought. And yet people die every day, right around us, because there are no donors.
Covid, however, means that physical recruitment events cannot take place. In this era of community and public conscientiousness, the Anthony Nolan Trust needs GAA clubs to push this on their behalf.
Share it on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, invent a dance for Tik Tok. Whatever gets the message out.
Lives depend on it.
TO SIGN UP NOW
Visit
[ www.anthonynolan.org/belfastmarrowOpens in new window ]
(age 16-30) or
[ DKMS.org.ukOpens in new window ]
(age 30-55)
For more info, contact Belfast Marrow on Facebookor
