Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I will be running the Colchester Half Marathon on 24th March, the London Marathon on 28th April and the Zoo Stampede 10k with Poppy on 19th May to support the charity DKMS.

In 2016 my mother-in-law needed to have a stem cell transplant after being diagnosed with a rare aggressive form of Leukemia called TPLL. A donor wasn't found on the register, but luckily my sister-in-law was a match (her other 2 siblings weren't!!).

It opened my eyes to the fact that there are only a small percentage of people on the register. Plus that people believe that they need to be young to be on it, that if they have had a blood transfusion they can't be on it or they think donating stem cells is painful - ALL FALSE!!!!

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma. These people rely on the stem cell register to find a donor match. We NEED more, loads more people to get themselves on the register. DKMS will accept people up to the age of 55 (obviously conditions apply).

Donations are very much greatly received...  but what I want more than donations are people to register. So PLEASE if you are under 55 years old click on this link and take 2 mins to fill in a online form and get your swab kit to get on the register:
https://www.dkms.org.uk/en/register-now

If you want some more information about how stem cells are harvested then watch this 3 minute video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyB686Gnbbg&feature=youtu.be

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to read my story and support my cause, Karen xXx

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.