We have all been friends with Alex since 2006 with varying degrees of humour, composting advice and blind panic when she kept getting poorly on us. In 2004 she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and since then has been aiming for the world record in ‘types of nasty treatment you can have’, including chemotherapy, total body irradiation, two stem cell transplants and monthly visits for the last 5 years to Rotherham General Hospital (far away) to have treatment for Graft versus Host Disease. She has now been in remission from leukaemia for 8 years!

To celebrate this fact we as a motley crew wanted to complete a challenge that might in some small way reflect our admiration of Alex and her unending positivity and our gratitude to Anthony Nolan for saving our friend’s life twice and for all they have done for thousands of others with similarly bad luck.

On the 2^nd-4^th May 2015 we will attempt to cycle from Rotherham General Hospital to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where Alex received her transplants, via towns spelling out ANTHONY NOLAN. It’s about 180 miles and, quite frankly, a ridiculous ask for a bunch of amateurs with an over-inflated idea of their own fitness. Thank goodness for Alex’s dad Richard who is coming with us and actually knows what he’s doing. We would be so grateful if you could see fit to donate in recognition of Alex’s amazing story and the work of Anthony Nolan that makes such stories possible.

Thank you! For every donation made you will receive a signed topless photo of Alex from the Anthony Nolan exhibition on life after stem cell transplants (see below), complete with compost-related joke. Maybe.

THE ROUTE:

ANSTON, NORTH ANSTON, TUXFORD, HARBY, ORSTON, NOTTINGHAM, YO SUSHI. NORMANTON-ON-SOAR, OSGATHORPE, LINTON, ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH, NECHELLS.

From Alex:

As you have just read, my friends think I had bad luck to get leukaemia.  As I say in the video (see link below), I think I’m also very lucky.  Lucky that Anthony Nolan were able to find two people who were a good enough match to provide me with stem cells and save my life, lucky that I am still living a relatively normal life and lucky to have such amazing friends and family.  In fact, if I hadn’t become ill I would have gone to university two years earlier and wouldn’t have gone to Birmingham University, to be near the QE hospital, and so would never have met this lovely bunch.  In the past few years I have gotten stronger, both mentally and physically, and wanted to help Anthony Nolan, as they have helped me.  I have contributed to a number of projects primarily looking at life after a stem cell transplant.  This includes an infamous ‘topless’ photo shoot, art exhibition and video, see: http://www.anthonynolan.org/patients-and-families/real-stories/alexandras-story.  I would be so grateful if you could donate in recognition of my friends’ amazing challenge and the work of Anthony Nolan for inspiring them J.

If you want to be even more amazing you can help reduce the luck involved in finding a stem cell match for people needing a transplant.  The most common method of donating stem cells is just like donating blood, there is no painful operation and so no excuse!  The more people signed up, the more matches can happen.  Please sign up to the Anthony Nolan Stem Cell Register at:  

http://www.anthonynolan.org/8-ways-you-could-save-life/donate-your-stem-cells

However, if you’re really old (over 30) you will need to sign up to the NHS British Bone Marrow Registry which you can register for up to 49 years old if you also donate blood: http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/bonemarrow/