Five potential lifesaving matches found among DMU students and staff who joined UK stem cell register

Five potential lifesavers have been found from students and staff who joined the Anthony Nolan stem cell register at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).



They were among hundreds of people who signed up to help save a life by donating their stem cells to help patients with blood cancer around the world.

The events, which were run by the Rik Basra Leukaemia Campaign and DMU Square Mile, both set new UK records for the numbers of UK students recruited to the register in one day.

All five have been told they are potentially a match for someone with blood cancer. They are now going through the donation process to see if they will become a donor. This will involve tests to see if they are a tissue type similar to the person in desperate need of a transplant.

The Rik Basra Leukaemia Campaign was set up to help find a match for former Leicestershire police officer Rik after he was diagnosed with blood cancer. Rik’s life was saved following a worldwide search for a donor and now he and wife Kas work tirelessly to get more people onto the register.

Rik said: “ Medical advances make registration and donation extremely simple and straightforward, but with match donors so problematic, signing-up truly can make a difference… the students that have come up as matches are lifesavers and absolutely show the value of each and every registration”

DMU Square Mile is the embodiment of the university’s ethos to be a public good. Students have not only joined the register they have helped fund-raise, become volunteer recruiters and been trained to sign people up.

David Hollis, Square Mile Manager, said: “For these people to donate their stem cells and find out that they could potential save someone’s life and be a match is amazing – it’s five more chances to save lives.”

RELATED NEWS:
* Sign up and save a life on Wednesday at stem cell registration day
* DMU Square Mile joins campaign to making Leicestershire a lifesaving county

It comes as DMU prepares to host the grand finale to a month’s worth of stem cell recruitment drives around Leicester and Leicestershire.

The Pass It On Leicester drive saw 31 well-known businesses and organisations across Leicestershire take part and support the campaign.

Along the way, each added their own stamp to the occasion by hosting fun events to promote the campaign, including a fashion show from Next George (ASDA), a relay from Leicestershire Police and a sports day from BBC Radio Leicester.

DMU will host the final event on Wednesday, picking up the campaign flag from Regent College in Leicester and hosting a day-long drive on campus. If you are aged 16-30 you can join up – just come along to Mill Lane on Wednesday and be a lifesaver!