Hello

I'm sorry to bug you just before Christmas but this is a really worthwhile cause and I’m not just asking for money (though that would be nice too) I am also trying to sign up people to join the Anthony Nolan donor’s list.

In May this year, our friend David lost his life to Aplastic Anaemia, a horrible condition where the bone marrow fails to produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells. Aplastic Anaemia robbed David of his life, he was only 29, in just 6 months. The saddest thing if David had found a bone marrow donor, he would have had a 90% chance of being cured.

The Antony Nolan Trust (www.anthonynolan.org) is a charity that matches donors and recipients around the world. There are 400,000 people currently on the register but only half of the people who need a bone marrow transplant find a match. 1,400 people require a bone marrow transplant annually in this country, could you save one of their lives?

If you are aged between 18 and 40 and are in good health please can you take a look at this link. http://www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/save-a-life/Online-application.aspx The online form takes approximately 10 minutes to fill out, if you are eligible you are then sent a donor pack in the post, you simply spit in a tube and send it back, so simple and quick and it could mean you could save someone’s life.

Another great way to help, is donating your umbilical cord and placenta if you are pregnant and I know a few people I’m sending this to are. When a baby is born, its umbilical cord and placenta are usually thrown away as clinical waste. The blood in the cord and placenta is rich in stem cells which can be used for lifesaving transplants for patients suffering from leukaemia and serious blood disorders. www.anthonynolan.org/What-you-can-do/Donate-your-umbilical-cord.aspx

In order to do my bit to help, I joined the register some time ago, I am going to do a sea swim on Boxing Day. Yes that’s right, the person who is phobic of sharks and never ever ever ever swims in the sea, is going to swim in the sea in December! I must be mad…..

 

So if you aren’t able to join the register for whatever reason, please could you sponsor me instead.  I would be extremely grateful of any donations you could make. I know that David would be proud of me for doing this, he knew how much I hate both the sea and the cold, and I know this would be the kind of crazy thing he would have signed up to do with me….

 

Oh yes, I want to do this in fancy dress, any ideas for costumes that I could swim in would be gratefully received.

 

Thankyou for taking the time to read this

 

Alice xx

 

MY SISTERS VIV AND LUCY ARE NOW GOING TO BE DOING THIS WITH ME TOO..... SO I HAVE ADJUSTED OUR TARGET, PLEASE SPONSOR THE GROUP, WE REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT....