Darren’s run is a tribute to brother
Local man’s campaign for bone marrow register
An Uddingston man who lost his brother to a rare blood disorder is encouraging others to join the bone marrow register.
Darren Hannah is preparing to take part in the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run on Sunday (October 1) in memory of his brother, Ryan.
Ryan sadly passed away, aged just 24, after becoming unwell in September 2013.
His condition was so rare that medics had never dealt with it in Scotland before.
Had doctors caught it in time, they would have used Anthony Nolan to find a match as Ryan would have required a bone marrow transplant.
By coincidence, younger brother Darren had donated bone marrow earlier that year, having joined the register during an open day at South Lanarkshire College in East Kilbride.
Darren said: “In September 2013, my older brother Ryan took unwell with a suspected chest infection. As the days went on, he became progressively worse and was admitted to Monklands Hospital.
“He underwent various tests to try and find the cause of his symptoms and why he was getting worse despite several different antibiotics.
“Eventually a test came back positive for a blood disorder that no one in Scotland had ever suffered from.
“The hospital had to take advice from Great Ormond Street as the illness normally presents itself in young children, and not in adults.
“Despite trying everything Great Ormond Street advised, nothing was helping and it was decided that the final chance for him would be a bone marrow transplant arranged by Anthony Nolan.
“Due to my brother’s deteriorating health, it was deemed not suitable to attempt a bone marrow transplant as he would not be able to survive the journey to a sterile hospital suitable for a bone marrow transplant, and due to that, my brother passed away at the beginning of October – almost three weeks before his 25th birthday.”
The brothers completed the Great Scottish Run together in 2012, and this will be the first event Darren has taken part in in Ryan’s memory.
He is also raising funds for Anthony Nolan, and urging others to sign up to the register.
Darren said: “In 2011 I joined the Anthony Nolan register during an open event that Strathclyde Fire and Rescue were holding at my college.
“I signed up but completely forgot all about it until April 2013 when they phoned saying they had a possible match and would I still be interested in donating my bone marrow.
“I had to go through a couple further tests to make sure that I was a complete match for the recipient, and that I was fit enough to undergo the procedure. Once everything came back clear and I was found to be a complete match, my date was set for May 1, 2013.
“For a week before my donation, a nurse came out to either my home, place of work or study and gave me an injection in my upper arm to cultivate the bone marrow into my blood.
“The day before my donation, I travelled down to London to the hospital where I would give the actual donation and I was given my final injection.
“On the morning of my donation I arrived at the hospital and had a cannula inserted into my right arm and one into my left hand.
“The procedure took about four hours and simply consisted of the blood coming out of one cannula into a machine that separated the bone marrow from the blood then returning the remaining blood to me via the other cannula.
“Apart from the scratch of the cannulas being inserted the procedure was absolutely painless.
“The only thing you have to lose, temporarily, is some bone marrow whilst someone gains their life again.”
As a gay man, Darren is keen to break the misconception that gay men cannot donate bone marrow.
He added: “When going through the whole process of bone marrow donation.
“I was surprised that being a gay man I was never stopped from donating like I am with blood donations.
“It also seemed to me that many gay men thought that they couldn’t donate bone marrow due to this either, which could be costing so many people their lives.”
Darren is fundraising via www.virginmoneygiving.com/ darrenhannah1.
For more information on bone marrow donation, visit www. anthonynolan.org.