Be a hero today and sign up to be a stem cell donor
BE JUST LIKE RAY AND YOU COULD SAVE A LIFE
Reporter SELFLESS Ray Noble may never meet the stranger whose life he saved.
The 29-year-old registered as a stem cell and bone marrow donor four years ago after a young girl his wife knew was diagnosed with cancer.
“If that was my little girl I’d want someone to be there for her,” he said.
“I’ve been a blood donor for a while, so I thought why not sign up to the stem cell register as well.”
And last year dad-of-one Ray, from Wallsend, made a life-saving donation after being told he was a match for an unknown patient in urgent need of a transplant.
Now blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan have urged more people to follow Ray’s example after a survey revealed that 50% of young men from the North East could not be encouraged to sign up to a blood stem cell or bone marrow register for any reason.
Every year there are 2,000 people in the UK in need of a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. This is usually their last chance of survival.
For Ray, the path to becoming a blood cancer patient’s last hope started when a relative of his wife’s friend was diagnosed with the disease.
“The process was pretty simple,” he said. “I followed the instructions on the Anthony Nolan website about how to sign up.
“Within a week or two they sent me a spit test, where I basically had to spit into a tube and send it off so it could be analysed.
“I then got a card a few weeks later saying I was on the register.”
Since signing up, Ray has been identified as a potential match for two patients.
“About two years ago Anthony Nolan got in touch to say that I was a potential match for someone and I had to go and give some samples.
“On that one they managed to find a closer match - I was eight out of 10 and they found a 10 out of 10, which was obviously better for the patient.
“Then around Christmas last year they confirmed that I was a match for someone.”
After undergoing several health checks and injections to stimulate the stem cells in his blood, Ray travelled down to Sheffield in April last year to make the donation.
“All in all it took about four or five hours,” he said. “I’d been aching a bit before the procedure because of the injections but afterwards I felt totally fine.”
Ray, who is dad to two-year-old Ariana, has since convinced several friends and relatives to sign up.
“For me it’s a question of, ‘why not?,’ he said.
“It’s not that likely that you’re ever going to be asked to donate - it’s just a case of being on there for someone if they need it.
“I always ask people: ‘How would you feel if it was your child or parent or cousin, if they needed a donor and you weren’t a match - would you want someone to step up and help them?’”