I've raised £3000 to Help with funding for the Match4Meena campaign.
Organised by Andrea Sinclair
Story
Less than a year ago, Meena, a mum of 5 year old twins and a successful recruitment consultant was diagnosed with leukaemia and her whole world was turned upside down. She urgently needs a blood stem cell donation for her best chance of surviving, which is made all the more difficult due to her Asian heritage.
To find a suitable donor, doctors have to find someone who matches the patient's tissue type. In a third of cases a match can be found within the family. But two-thirds, including Meena, have to rely on donors on national and international stem cell registers. According to the charity DKMS www.dkms.org.uk , while 69% of white northern European patients can find the best possible match from a stranger, only 20% of patients from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are successful.
Taking matters into her own hands, Meena with the unwavering support of her family launched their own campaign - Match4Meena - in September last year to find a donor, specifically among the Asian community.
"I don't know what will happen to me, but I might be able to save someone else's life and that is reward enough."
Please read more about Meena's heartbreaking and inspirational story in recent interviews:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46454494
www.dkms.org.uk/en/meena-needs-match-fight-acute-myeloid-leukaemia-aml
The campaign has gained considerable momentum in the past few months with over 2000 new potential life saving donors signed up in the UK. Match4Meena has also spread to a number of other countries with recent and ongoing donor drives in India and the US.
But this is where Meena and her Match4Meena campaign now need your help.
We are looking for donations to help towards the cost involved in trying to find a lifesaving donor for Meena.
If we surpass our target of £3,000, all additional donations will go to the charity DKMS (www.dkms.org.uk ) where they will use the funds to continue the amazing work they do in fighting blood cancer, both in the UK and globally.
All of us have it in us to be a lifesaver. If you haven't already, please register to be a potential stem cell donor (DKMS, www.dkms.org.uk/en/register-now or Anthony Nolan, www.anthonynolan.org/8-ways-you-could-save-life/donate-your-stem-cells ). And please help this crowdfunding to register and process new potential blood stem cell donors which could save Meena's and countless other lives.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all for your help and support to date in finding a stem cell donor match for Meena. We are working around the clock on this, including working with registry holders on donor recruitment initiatives that specifically target the Indian community (the HLA match has to be of Indian ethnicity). These charities/NGO's are underfunded for this and we really need your help in moving things forward. Please support us to increase our chances of finding a suitable match for Meena, and in the process, increasing the pool of donors to help other lives. We value any contribution you can make, it will make a huge difference"
