www.Parctel.com: Sian Willbourne is well known to the Terminal 5 (T5) project, she’s the leukaemia sufferer who in December 2005 had over 400 T5 workers queuing to join The Anthony Nolan Trust’s bone marrow register in the hope of saving her life or one of the thousands of other patients currently waiting to find a donor. Sadly, after over two years of waiting to find a suitable donor Sian still hasn’t found a match. To help recruit more lifesaving donors a second bone marrow donation day was organised on T5 last week and again hundreds of T5 workers joined the Anthony Nolan register.
Since being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in June 2005, 31-year-old Sian has taken the unusual step of raising awareness of the urgent need for more people aged 18-40 to join the bone marrow register. Sian has been working hard to raise awareness and has set a target of recruiting 1,000 donors to the bone marrow register.
As a result of the first bone marrow donation day, one T5 worker has actually donated bone marrow and become a lifesaver. Other workers who successfully made a donation will stay on the register until they are 60 as they could potentially provide a match for many other sufferers.
Sian Willbourne says: “I feel very optimistic that there will be a match for me soon. The benefit of coming to T5 is the hope that the hundreds of workers who have been involved will spread the word about how easy it is to save a life”.
Sian’s friend Sarah Waltho, project manager for Terminal 5, has been central to organising the donation days on site along with The Anthony Nolan Trust. Ideally bone marrow donors are healthy males, aged between 18 and 40 and as there is such a large concentration of men working on T5 it’s the perfect location.
Mike Evans, T5 Head of Health and Safety says: “There is a very genuine spirit of generosity on the Terminal 5 project which is evident by the sheer number of workers who have joined the bone marrow register in the hope that they may soon save someone’s life.”
“Sian has made a big impact on Terminal 5 and we hope to find a suitable match for her this time round. Meanwhile, the fact that a T5 worker has potentially saved a life as a result of our first blood donation day is fantastic news.”
Before making a donation workers were counselled by Antony Nolan Trust staff to ensure they fully understand what the donation process involves. T5’s own nurses then took a thimbleful of blood which was taken to a lab for tissue-typing. If a T5 worker is found to be a match they will be contacted by The Antony Nolan Trust and asked to donate their bone marrow..
Unfortunately Sian’s condition has deteriorated which meant she was unable to attend the donation day on Terminal 5. The entire project is hoping that one of the hundreds of donors that have recently joined will increase the chances for patients like Sian.
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