A Ludlow resident, who was given between just two and five years to live unless he gets a bone marrow transplant from a matching donor, is appealing to his local community to see if they could be his lifesaving match.Gordon Reynolds, 60, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma leukaemia in July 2002 and has since undergone two operations to get the cancer into remission.But his only hope of long term survival is a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.
A worldwide search through The Anthony Nolan Trust’s bone marrow register did not find an appropriate match.Now Gordon, together with The Anthony Nolan Trust, is calling upon people in the Ludlow community to attend a donor registration session in the hope that his lifesaver can be found.
Karen Bonnell, Donor Recruitment Manager for The Anthony Nolan Trust, explained, “70% of patients needing a transplant can’t find a compatible donor from within their families.Gordon is one of them and is relying on the generosity of strangers to come forward and sign up to be a potential donor.If you’re not a match for Gordon, you could go on to save someone else’s life.”
Healthy people aged 18-40 are encouraged to attend the session to find out more.It will take place at Clive Pavillion, Ludlow Raceclub, Bromfield, Ludlow on Sunday 8th November from 12.30pm until 5.30pm.
Father of five, Gordon, said, “If I could find a match, then I hope that would be the end of it. Without that I will need to have another operation and I didn’t think I would survive the last one. It was really tough.I’m a strong bloke, but if I was told that I had to go through that again, I would have to think long and hard about it.”
Gordon had always been “fit as a fiddle”, playing rugby, cricket and golf regularly.It is hoped that the donor recruitment session will attract Gordon’s sporting peers because young men make the best bone marrow donors.All potential donors are welcome to attend, but people who fit this profile are particularly urged to consider coming along.
