Students from Swansea University have recruited a remarkable 308 students to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register in the last two years.
Swansea University is one of over 50 universities with ‘Marrow’ society, the name given to the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity network of student volunteer groups.
Swansea adds to the more than 50 universities who have set up their own ‘Marrow’ society since 1997. For some people, receiving stem cells from a stranger is their only chance at life so the work done by Swansea Marrow and Anthony Nolan is invaluable.
Zack Balaban, Swansea Marrow President, said “It’s humbling to know that the work our volunteers do is really making quite a profound difference to people’s lives. It’s even easier to sign up now, as we’ve recently changed from saliva samples to cheek swabs!”
Since 1997, Marrow groups have recruited over 100,000 potential donors and over 1000 of these people have gone on to donate. Typically, around 1 in 1200 people on the register go on to donate, so Marrow donors are over 10 times more likely to save a life than average.
Young people are the most likely to be chosen to donate their stem cells as they are less likely to have long-term health problems which might delay or prevent donation.
Charlotte Cunliffe, Marrow Programme Lead at Anthony Nolan, said “It’s hard to put into words just how amazing our Marrow volunteers are – they are responsible for saving the lives of countless people, and they are truly the unsung heroes helping to cure blood cancer and blood disorders.
We are so pleased that Swansea Marrow have decided to join the student life-saving revolution taking place at universities across the UK, and we are completely behind them to help recruit the next generation of potential lifesavers to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register.”
You can find out more about Marrow at www.anthonynolan.org/marrow
or follow them on Twitter
@Swansea_Marrow or like them on facebook.com/SwanseaMarrow
