Former fire fighter is named donor champ
Former fire fighter Paul Elliot from Dunblane has been commended as donor champion of the year at the Anthony Nolan supporter awards.
The accoldade recognised his volunteer work, giving talks to students and recruiting donors to the stem cell register.
Paul picked up his award at a ceremony held in the House of Commons hosted by One Show presenter Joe Crowley.
The awards are held annually to recognise and thank those who help the blood cancer charity.
Paul was highly commended for his tireless work to raise awareness of the need for more registered donors.
He joined the Anthony Nolan register in 2004, when a colleague’s mum was diagnosed with leukaemia. Six months later he was told he was a match for a stranger and donated bone marrow to help save the recipient’s life.
Paul joined the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s donor recruitment volunteering group, formed by fellow fire fighter and blood disorder patient Ally Boyle. He helped to expand the group’s activities into the Stirling area, and regularly gives talks at schools to highlight the need for more young people to join the register.
Paul said:“To date, Stirling firefighters and I have recruited 648 pupils and I’ve spoken to over 1500 people at schools. I give a presentation and tell my story about how I was picked and went on to save someone’s life.
“A highlight was when someone we got to join the register went on to donate. To think if we hadn’t have gone into that school on that day, that person may have been missed. It shows just how successful you can be with just a little time and effort.”
Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential stem cell donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a stem cell transplant. It also carries out vital research to make stem cell transplants more successful, and supports patients through their transplant process.”
Anthony Nolan chief executive said:“Paul has shown true dedication to the cause.”