A Bristol rugby team are showing their support for Mike Brandon – and the charity which helped him find a potentially life-saving donor – at this weekend’s Bournemouth 7s festival.
Old Bristolians, who have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity since losing their second-team captain Robbie Stuart to leukaemia, will be wearing the Anthony Nolan charity logo on the back of their shirts.
As previously reported, 29-year-old Mr Brandon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer of the blood, in March.
He and his fiancee Kate Robertson, whom he lives with in Horfield, were told he needed to have a stem cell transplant within 60 days.
A national campaign was launched, which had a huge response, and a bone marrow donor has been found within the first month.
Miss Robertson, 31,said: “A matching donor means that we can go ahead with Mike’s bone marrow transplant. We know we have a rocky road ahead, as a transplant is a serious procedure, but knowing there is a good match for Mike is a fantastic boost that we desperately needed.â€
Cancer charity Anthony Nolan said more than 7,000 people applied to the register online between May 4 and 12, compared to 939 people during the same period last year.
Scores of registrations came from Old Bristolians, where one of Mr Brandon’s best friends from his old school in Berkshire plays.
Tom Tooth, 29, said: “Mike and I hadn’t been in touch for several years, but he’d been one of my best friends at school. One of the boys from OBs posted the story on our Facebook page encouraging people to sign up to this cause, which is a matter very close to our hearts as a club.
“I was so shocked when I read about Mike’s story in the paper. We know only too well that this can happen to anyone, so everyone immediately rallied round, requesting spit kits to see if we could help find a match.
“I was really touched by the response of the boys to want to get involved and proud that we could be part of the drive to increase awareness across the country. It’s so fantastic that a match for Mike has been found, but we won’t stop there – we’ll continue to raise money and awareness as club.â€
The Anthony Nolan charity saves the lives of people with blood cancers such as leukaemia by matching them to people willing to donate their bone marrow or blood stem cells for life-saving transplants.
Failand-based OBs have entered a side into the annual rugby festival in Bournemouth and are hoping to raise more awareness for Anthony Nolan with their choice of kit.
Organiser and player Rob Hamblett said: “We’re very excited to be involved with Anthony Nolan and think that Bournemouth 7s will be a fantastic place to do it.
“So many of the people in attendance will be the optimum age to join the register, as they are between the ages of 16 and 30 and in good health.â€
Robbie Stuart, the club’s second team captain, died aged 28 in 2008 after bravely battling leukaemia for a year.
Before his death he organised events to raise money for cancer charity CLIC Sargent and his friends, family and team-mates have continued raising money for good causes ever since. An English Channel row, John O’Groats to Land’s End cycle and even an appearance on the Eggheads TV quiz show have all been done by club members.
Ann O’Leary, head of register development at Anthony Nolan, said: “What many people don’t realise is how easy it is to join the bone marrow register. It simply involves filling in a form and providing a saliva sample.
“We urgently need more young men to sign up as they are the most likely to be chosen to donate, but are under-represented on the register. We also need to raise vital funds in order to keep saving lives, as it costs us £100 to add each new person to our register.â€
For more information, visit www.anthonynolan.org.
Article source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/andy-powell-tweets-natasha-gascoine-3265454
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