Ozvalda Ferreira, whose husband Tony has Sezary Syndrome, has called on Islanders to put themselves in the shoes of those who need stem cell transplants and consider taking the simple steps that could see them save a life anywhere in the world.
The Friends of Anthony Nolan Jersey recently stepped up their campaign to encourage Islanders aged 16 to 30 to sign up to their donor register.
Since last year a trio of matches have been made from it, resulting in three potentially life-saving operations.
Stem cell transplants are an important part of treatment for blood cancers, such as leukaemia, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Sezary Syndrome, by restoring the body’s ability to make blood cells after high-dose chemotherapy or radiation treatment.
Mrs Ferreira explained that her husband’s condition had stabilised due to him travelling to London every two weeks for specialist treatment but warned that he is a ‘ticking bomb’.
‘How many times do people say, “I wish I could do something to help?” Well, this is something they can do to help,’ she said.
‘They can save a life without getting into any danger. I would recommend everyone to sign up and become stem cell donors.
‘With Tony we have been lucky – we have had time because the doctors have been able to stabilise his condition. But Tony is a bomb that is ticking and we don’t know when it is going to explode.
‘It would be good for the transplant to happen while all his organs are still working because there will be a greater chance of success. If the lymphoma spreads elsewhere it can be trickier to treat.’
She called on Islanders to consider the hardships caused by cancer, as well as the fate of patients who have less time than her husband to find a stem cell match.
‘There are patients who don’t have the waiting time we have had. They can be diagnosed and then given two months to live,’ she said.
‘If Tony had been like that it would have been the end – we have been looking for two years for a stem cell donation.
‘There are people who are not that lucky. But the more DNA there is available, then the more chance there could be a match waiting for them, so they can have a transplant urgently.’
There are currently 750,000 people on Anthony Nolan’s national stem-cell donor register, with 2,000 signed up in Jersey. Joining the register involves doing a cheek swab putting it in the post.
Mrs Ferreira said that signing up could help save a life anywhere in the world.
‘Once you’re on the register you are a waiting donor. And the registers are searched worldwide,’ she said. ‘A match might come from anywhere. You could match someone in Australia and you wouldn’t have to travel to Australia.
‘You would travel from here to London and they would extract and then send the cells away.’
Other charities which run registers for older stem cell donors include NHS Blood and Transplant and Delete Blood Cancer.
