10:49am Tuesday 29th December 2009
After hearing that time could be running out for 22-year-old Adele Wardingham, Lucy Richardson was moved to join the bone marrow register and urges others to follow suit.
LIKE most mothers, I would do anything for my child. So the desperation in Christine Stevens’ voice strikes a deep chord.
Her beautiful daughter, Adele Wardingham, was seven months pregnant when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which spread quickly to her breasts, stomach and bones.
The cancer was so advanced that the decision was taken in March to deliver Theo ten weeks early, to give the 22-year-old the best chance of fighting the disease. Her healthy baby, who was born weighing 4lb, is now nine months old, but Adele is still severely ill.
It is the tone of desperation in Christine’s voice that resonated with me – a primitive instinct to fight for her offspring, no matter how unbearable the outcome.
She explains that the time Adele spends with Theo – meaning “gift from God” – and her partner, Jamie Taylor, 29, is precious as it could be running out.
After several gruelling stays in hospital for chemotherapy treatment, the family’s hopes were raised when a bone marrow match was found in Germany. But the transplant fell through and Adele, from Linthorpe, in Middlesbrough, is now expecting to go back into hospital in January.
After hearing her story, I felt compelled to go to an Anthony Nolan bone marrow recruitment drive organised by Christine to see if I could become a donor for Adele or one of the thousands of other patients like her in the UK. But despite handing out more than 200 posters and leaflets, Christine was devastated when only a handful of people showed up.
After filling out a lengthy medical form, the methods by which bone marrow can be extracted were discussed.
Hannah Fairclough, a medical student at Durham University who was assisting at the clinic said that under anaesthetic bone marrow can be withdrawn from the pelvic bones using a sterile needle and syringe.
More commonly, though, blood stem cells are withdrawn though a vein in each arm.
“There is still a myth that it is a painful process, which it isn’t,” she says.
“One of our lecturers donated bone marrow – he felt rough afterwards, but said the thought of saving someone’s life made it worth it.”
After a small sample of blood was taken from my arm, I was sent on my way in the knowledge that I could be called up sometime in the future if I’m selected as a possible match.
My little girl, Maisy, is only four but is already shaping up to be a great person who loves life. I cannot even contemplate the pain of her suffering a life-threatening disease.
Christine says Adele’s bubbly personality continues to shine through, despite her crippling illness. She’s lost her long brown hair because of the aggressive chemotherapy, but still continues to apply make-up, including long false eyelashes, much to the amusement of the nurses looking after her.
“She said she didn’t want people to be shocked at her looking ill,” says her mother. “She is such a warm girl and has always given back to other people. That’s what gets me so mad – she has never done anything to anyone. I can’t bear to think about losing her.”
■ For more information about donating bone marrow visit blood.co.uk or call 0300-123-2323.
■ Bone marrow is the soft, jellylike tissue that is found in the hollow centres of certain bones.
It is the home for stem cells, the building blocks of blood which fight infection and stop bleeding.
■ Matching for bone marrow transplantation is more complex than matching blood group types.
It is based on the analysis of genetic markers that are found on most of the cells in our bodies.
■ In about 30 per cent of cases, a matching donor can be found within the patient’s family.
■ Volunteers must be aged between 18 and 44 and there is a one in ten chance of being selected as a donor.
■ Bone marrow can be harvested in one of two ways.
The most common is by extracting white blood cells from both arms using needles.
Alternatively, the bone marrow can be withdrawn from the pelvic bones using a sterile needle and syringe.
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