This blog entry is very different from any I have done before. It is nothing to do with asthma but is focused on another very very worthy cause and a cause that has touched the hearts of thousands of people.
Annabella (left) is Millie’s (right) younger sister. I met Annabella when I moved schools and went to St Leonards. We were in the same year and same house. I didnt know Millie well as she was in 6th form and getting ready to leave St L’s just as I was starting but for the time I did know her she was a bright lively character who loved sport, art and life. I do remember she also looked out for her little sister too.
Millie was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2002. She was treated with chemotherapy but her cancer returned in 2003. Her only hope was then a stem cell transplant and, as her brother and sister were not a match, she was put in touch with Anthony Nolan. Anthony Nolan is a lifesaving charity that matches incredible individuals willing to donate their bone marrow/stem cells to people who are desperately in need of a transplant in order to survive. Millie campaigned to educate more people about Anthony Nolan and recruited over 2000 people onto the Anthony Nolan register as potential bone marrow/stem cell donors. Millie did have a transplant but it was not a perfect match and she tragically died in 2004. Her legacy lives on through her sister Annabella who campaigns to raise awareness about the amazing lifesaving work of Anthony Nolan. If there were more people on the register Millie might have got her perfect match and would still be here today. It is important also that people realise that registering is very easy and if you are ever needed as a donor, medical advances are such, that it is a simple and painless procedure.
Here is a message from Annabella:
In 2003 my very special sister Millie helped recruit over 2000 potential bone marrow/stem cell donors to the Anthony Nolan register. As a direct result of her courageous work lives have been saved. There is a constant and urgent need for more young people to join the register (particularly young men, who make the best donors, and are therefore the most needed). This is because being a stem cell/bone marrow donor is very specific – you have to be a perfect match to the recipient. Education about this health issue is lacking in that people just don’t know how needed they are. There could be someone desperately ill just waiting for you. The other things is that, due to amazing advances in technology, it is incredibly simple, quick and painless to be a donor. And you directly save someone’s life.
This Christmas, we teamed up with Anthony Nolan in launching an exciting video campaign to continue Millie’s work, by encouraging more young people to join the register as potential life-saving donors.
There are many ways that people can support Anthony Nolan’s fantastic work. In particular, if you know anyone who is aged 16-30 please tell them about this campaign. Your support is greatly appreciated – the more people who register, the more matches can be found and the more lives can be saved.
To see our Super-Starred Advent Calendar please go to
http://www.anthonynolan.org/inspiredbymillie
Here is one Clare Balding with her video
View more at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVw9TQ3fGFPAr2MQzxMyN4H9dAywTXgu2
You can also follow Anthony Nolan on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AnthonyNolan and twitter @AnthonyNolan #InspiredByMillie.
With your help, somebody somewhere will be able to have many more Christmases with their family where, without a perfect match, it would not have been possible.
Thank you.
For ease please cut and paste the following and send to your friends:
Aged 16-30? This Super-Starred video Advent Calendar is for you! Please watch, listen and share: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVw9TQ3fGFPAr2MQzxMyN4H9dAywTXgu2
http://www.anthonynolan.org/inspiredbymillie
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 