The Anthony Nolan Trust is urgently calling for members of the Asian community to come forward and save the lives of Asian patients who are desperately waiting to find a suitable bone marrow donor. One patient who needs to find a donor urgently is six year old Rianna Deol who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in December 2005. After chemotherapy she went into remission, but relapsed in February this year. Time is running out for Rianna and her only hope of survival is for a suitable bone marrow donor to come forward from the Asian community.
As Rianna’s mum, Ruby says:
The medical people have the technology but the miracle of life is in us as people – people really need to understand that. I’m just asking and hoping to God that people will come forward. Please. We can save many Asian people’s lives – if you’re fit and healthy, just do it – come forward and save a life. I truly believe that there’s someone out there who can help Rianna – we just need you to come forward now.”
There are currently 16,000 people worldwide in need of a bone marrow transplant, but because individual genetic makeup is so varied, the chance of finding a suitable donor can be slim. Many searches for patients are unsuccessful – a bone marrow donor whose tissue type matches theirs could mean the difference between life and death. Matches are usually found from within the same ethnic community as the patient; but there is a severe shortage of donors from the Asian community.
Ruby explained:
“On the 20 December 2005 Rianna was referred to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. They immediately confirmed that Rianna had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. We were very shocked and very sad. We didn’t tell anyone at first – partly because it was Christmas and we didn’t want to worry everyone, but also because we needed time to digest it for ourselves – we had no idea what it all meant and we needed to find out and understand it all properly. Our lives were turned completely upside down - not just emotionally – we also had to work out how to care for our son Joshpal (Josh), whilst being at the hospital with Rianna.
Rianna started chemo straight away. She was put on a two year chemo programme – the first year to get her into remission and the second to ensure she stayed in remission. She was in and out of hospital over the whole period which was incredibly stressful and difficult for Rianna and for us – trying to make sure Josh also got time with us. But after the first year she went into remission and we started to feel positive.
It was after the second year that things changed: at the end of January this year, Rianna starting complaining about pains in her legs again and we knew something was up.On 22 February the consultant confirmed that she’d relapsed. We were devastated. But we really weren’t expecting them to say that she’d need a bone marrow donor. We were very scared when they did. Most people find a bone marrow match from within the same ethnic group – since we’re Asian and there are not enough Asians on the bone marrow register, we’re very worried.
So now we’re doing everything possible to encourage people to join The Anthony Nolan Trust’s bone marrow register. I’ll be honest – before this happened to Rianna I had no idea about it either – I thought being a bone marrow donor would be a really big deal, but it’s a much simpler procedure than I imagined. I’ve found that as soon as people find out how easy it is, they’re really willing to help.
Rianna’s relapse is a shock to us all. She’s very sad now – I’d told her she’d be going to school and she was really looking forward to that, obviously she can’t go now. I wish I’d started campaigning for bone marrow donors before, but I just didn’t know about it. I don’t think people realise that we need more Asian people to join the register – even when I get my daughter back I’ll keep campaigning.”
Senior Communications Officer, Alex Frazier, commented: “We are urging people aged between 18-40 to come forward and save a life. What is required at this stage is a small blood sample. You may not be the match for Rianna but perhaps you can help save the life of another child or adult anywhere in the world. For you the first step is easy, contact the Antony Nolan Trust on 020 7284 1234 or visit www.anthonynolan.org.uk.”
