by Keyan Milanian

kmilanian@thekmgroup.co.uk

In the middle of last month, Haiti lost up to 200,000 of its people.

My girlfriend donated £5 to the Red Cross to help with the aid effort.

Tied down by jobs, rent, mortgages, bills and children, it is easy to feel helpless at times like this.

So when an opportunity to help another person falls in your lap, you have to grab it with both hands.

Just more than 18 months ago I signed up to the Anthony Nolan register which helps match bone marrow donors with patients suffering from illnesses such as leukaemia.

Unlike many people’s preconceptions, the original bone marrow harvest, which requires surgery, is relatively uncommon, accounting for only one in five donations.

Having been asked to undergo peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) treatment, which accounts for 80 per cent of the donations carried out by donors, I had a medical and then, four days before the procedure last month, was given daily injections of a drug called G-CSF (Granulocyte colony stimulating factor).

On the day of the procedure I had a needle in each arm to take the blood out and back into the body.

Fortunately, because of the size of the patient I was donating to, I was on the machines for only five hours.

Once finished, the cells are transplanted into the patient, who can be from anywhere in the world, within 24 hours.

I won’t be told for a few months whether the patient’s transplant was a success, but at a later date I’ll be able to swap letters with the recipient through the Anthony Nolan Trust.

For full story see today's (Monday) Medway Messenger