In this episode, I chatted with Beverley de Gale and Orin Lewis, parents of Daniel de Gale, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of six, back in 1993 and was the first black individual in the UK to receive a stem cell transplant six years later.

We talked about Daniel’s story and the difficulties they faced as a family in finding him a donor match and we chatted about the need for a diverse stem cell register and for people of all ethnicities to sign up if they can.

Our conversation took place earlier this summer and as Sickle Cell Awareness Month was in September, we also spoke about Sickle Cell Disorder and the impact that has on families needing urgent treatment.

Bev and Orin started the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust after realising that their son, Daniel’s chances of finding a donor match were one in a quarter of a million. The work the ACLT do is incredible. I hope you enjoy the listen.

You can find out more about the work the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust do and Daniel’s story at www.aclt.org

It is always such a huge privilege to be able to speak with my guests and share their stories. I hope you find this conversation both interesting and inspiring.

Thank you for listening.

In this episode, I talked with Martine Schuit van Reissen again, from the World Marrow Donor Association, based in the Netherlands. I also spoke with Dr Warren Fingrut, Haematologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Jeff and Susan Haertling from Marrow Mates in Florida. Jeff is a donor, himself and is Founder of Marrow Mates and Susan works as the Director of Genetic Genealogy and runs the EFDS Program.

We began the episode learning about the origins of World Marrow Donor Day and how it is celebrated. Dr Fingrut then chatted about his work as a Haematologist and also the work he does with the Stem Cell Club, which he set up to raise awareness and recruit donors to the register. Jeff is a donor himself and told us about his personal and very moving donor story. His wife, Susan, then explained her work creating the Extending Family Donor Search initiative. Marrow Mates’ hopes to expand the diversity of existing donor registries to enable equal outcomes for all blood disease patients in need of a stem cell transplant.

I’m very grateful to my guests today for their valuable insight and knowledge in the important topic of stem cell donation at the core of all they do. I hope you enjoy the World Marrow Donor Day celebrations and if you’re a donor, a heartfelt thank you on behalf of the families who you help. I hope this episode has inspired you to get involved and maybe sign up to the stem cell register, you could be someone’s magical match.

You can find out more about World Marrow Donor Day and our guests' work through these links, here:

https://worldmarrowdonorday.org/

https://wmda.info/

https://stemcellclub.ca/

https://www.marrowmates.org/

In this episode, I spoke with Martine Schuit van Reissen and Rhian Voskamp from the World Marrow Donor Association.

We chatted about everything from the importance of education, the awareness around the need and use of cord blood in stem cell donation and reaching as many people as possible around the globe to help them understand the importance of stem cell donation.

The World Marrow Donor Association works with many partners across the globe to build donor registries in every country around the world. Their work is ongoing and they are an incredible, small team of dedicated professionals, working with hundreds of wonderful volunteers to connect the right people with the right organisations to bring about the best resources to enable effective support to those in need around the world.

Martine and Rhian also shared their own personal stories that drive them to help others and I hope you enjoy the listen.

It was, as always, a huge privilege and humbling experience to speak with these amazing people. I am so grateful to be able to engage with my guests in this manner and hope it inspires those of you who listen to these conversations, to find out more about the stem cell register and maybe sign up in the hope of helping someone else in need.

You can find more about the World Marrow Donor Association here: https://wmda.info/

Thank you for listening.