We all have something inside us that could save someone’s life. Literally.
More than 37,000 people worldwide need a bone marrow transplant.
14 month old Margot Martini needed a bone marrow transplant when she was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of blood cancer on 7 October 2013. The transplant, also known as a stem cell transplant, would provide Margot with the best chance of survival.
Family and friends came together as Team Margot to raise awareness of her plight and others desperately seeking a blood stem cell donor match.
On average, only half of those seeking a matching donor will ever find one. Margot eventually found a suitable donor match and received her bone marrow transplant in February 2014.
Unfortunately, Margot’s Leukaemia was extremely aggressive. She relapsed during the summer and passed away, aged 2 years and 2 months, on the 27 October 2014.
The transplant wasn’t for nothing though; Margot’s family will always be unspeakably grateful to her selfless donor for his miraculous gift, which gave Margot extra time with her family and loved ones.
Margot’s family appreciate the extra time they were able to spend with her
To honour their daughter’s legacy and to encourage people to register to be a potential stem cell donor, a charity called Team Margot was set up.
“At the core of what Team Margot is all about is “giving to help others”, and when we say “giving”, in this context we don’t mean giving money; instead, we mean giving, literally, a part of ourselves for the sake of others, hopefully to help save a life.” Yaser Martini, Margot’s father
Team Margot’s efforts to date have resulted in tens of thousands of people registering as potential stem cell donors. Statistically, this means that during the next ten years, more than 500 people will now have the chance of a potentially lifesaving bone marrow transplant.
A world where every patient in need of a bone marrow transplant is confident of quickly finding a matching donor is the goal for Team Margot. They want to help save the lives of all those people who, just like Margot and her family, never thought they’d need a bone marrow transplant.
Stem cell donation: An easy, one-time action
Registering to be a potential stem cell donor is an easy, one-time action. And if you are fortunate enough to be matched with a patient in need, it’s also very likely that your donation will be a one-time action too.
Some important information:
- Once on the bone marrow register, on average you have about a 1 in 1,200 chance of being asked to actually donate.
- Your own bone marrow regenerates within about 10 days post-harvest.
- Harvest is relatively straightforward and will have little / a minimal impact on your life.
- And IF you actually donate, you know that you’re likely to be saving someone’s life. Or at least gifting someone more time with their family and loved ones.
Only 50% of people with a blood cancer ever find their matching donor. And the odds of successfully finding a perfect match fall to only 20% if the patient is of mixed heritage.
It needn’t be this way…
Only 1.6% of the UK population is on the bone marrow register – that’s a little over 1.1 million people. Team Margot want to see this figure rise to 2.2 million quickly.
TEAM MARGOT STEM CELL AND BONE MARROW REGISTRATION DAY: 7 October 2016
7th October – the date Margot received her diagnosis – is now an international day designed to inform, inspire and motivate more people to join the worldwide registers as potential stem cell and bone marrow donors, in their countries.
Margot’s mixed ethnicity was the key reason why it was not possible to find her “perfect match” – this is an area where your race and ethnicity matters – which is why, in particular, Team Margot seek to encourage people of mixed heritage and those from ethnic minorities to join a register.
To find out how quick and easy it is to register, please visit: http://www.teammargot.com/how-to-register/ and please let your friends and family know about it too.
