Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

PLEASE READ THIS

DKMS is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders by creating awareness; recruiting bone marrow donors to provide a second chance at life; raising funds to match donor registration costs; supporting the improvement of therapies through research; and supporting patients from day one of their diagnoses.

There are over 6 million people registered as donors worldwide, but that's not enough to help every patient in need of a transplant. 6 out of 10 patients won't find a compatible donor.

I became a stem cell donor for DKMS in 2016. The process that I went through was a very simple one - something anyone can do. People talk about the extraction process being something very painful, but that's just not the case. For me, I had the stem cells extracted via the Peripheral Blood donation method, which equates to blood being taken from one arm, the stem cells removed and the blood being put back into the other arm, over the course of 6 hours. So, 6 hours of lying in bed essentially. By donating your stem cells, you are giving someone a chance at survival. Unfortunately, the person I donated to did not survive. Therefore, I feel that owe that man and others like him in a similar position a similar chance. I have therefore put myself back on the register for stem cell donation and I will be participating in 2018's London Marathon and raising as much money as I can for DKMS.

I don't expect everyone to run a marathon, but registering yourself as a donor is a simple process. And so is the donation of the stem cells.

Therefore, I ask you to do two things:

1. Please donate what you can through my Just Giving page

2. Please follow this link and register yourself as a donor https://www.dkms.org/en/register

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.