People with LL postcode third in Wales for DKMS donor registrations

Although people with an LL postcode have yielded the third highest percentage of registrations for blood stem cell donors with charity DKMS, new statistics from the charity show that show that people in the country are 60 times more likely to take a donation than become a donor.

At 31 and 26 percent, people from Cardiff and Newport are the most willing to register, making up over half of total registrations in the country, with 3,765 people in North Wales making up 20 percent.

Among that number, Aysha Lord, registered with DKMS in June 2014 after seeing an appeal for a little girl called Margot who reminded her of her own daughter.

Ms Lord, 40 from Rhyl, said:“It’s amazing to think that you could be another person’s only hope.

"It’s also terrifying knowing that if you were to be diagnosed with blood cancer – as sadly so many are – your life could potentially rest on the generosity of a stranger."

In the UK, blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death. For most people there is no single cure. Yet, a blood stem cell donation from a genetically similar person can offer the best treatment.

Only one in three people with a blood cancer and in need of a transplant will find a matching blood stem cell donor within their own family, meaning the remain two out of three must rely on a generous stranger.

After registering, Ms Lord received a call to say she had been identified as a match to a 56 year old father of four and grandfather to three, to whom she later stem cells through peripheral blood stem cell.

Ms Lord added: "If I matched with another person, I would donate again in a second. It was an incredibly rewarding thing to do and I am so happy for Peter and his family. I would urge anyone able to register to do so today.

"You could truly change someone’s life, and those around them.”

To request a swab kit to register as a potential blood stem cell donor, visit dkms.org.uk.