Ride 4 Maddie

My family have a personal connection with Anthony Nolan and I wanted to give myself a new challenge for this year as since my daughter has been born, each year has been full of firsts. I will be doing this with my dad who will be helping me around the course.

My daughters journey started on Valentine’s Day 2016, after a trip to A&E for something we thought was going to be nothing. Fast forward to 12 hours later, where she had been given multiple transfusions and with a very scared mummy and daddy, we were travelling by blue light ambulance transfer to Great Ormond Street Hospital. She was only 3 months old at this point.

Maddison underwent her first surgical procedure two days later for tests, which showed her bone marrow had failed and she needed chemotherapy and a transplant.

After months of blood and platelet transfusions two to three times a week in our local hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital, with the help of the Anthony Nolan charity, found a 19 year old perfect match, who was and remains a complete stranger.

On 15th July 2016, Maddie started chemotherapy to remove her non functioning bone marrow and 7 days later received her new bone marrow and since then she has gone from strength to strength.

In the Spring of 2017, Maddie was well enough to attend Nursery and took part in her first transplant games in July 2018,  almost exactly 2 years after her bone marrow transplant.

Without the work that Anthony Nolan does everyday, Maddie and thousands of children and adults like her may not have found a donor and may not be with us today. They save the lives of people with a blood cancer or blood disorder. 

Anthony Nolan do this by matching incredible individuals willing to donate their stem cells to people who desperately need a lifesaving transplant. They also carry out cutting edge scientific research, fund specialist post-transplant nurses and support patients and their families through the transplant process and beyond. They won’t stop until we save the lives of everyone who needs a stem cell transplant. Every penny you donate brings us closer to that day.