‘Marrow’ clinic returns to help save lives of leukaemia sufferers
Posted on 19 October 2006
They are running a clinic at the HYMS building on the University of York’s Heslington campus on Saturday 21 October from 12pm to 4pm that aims to recruit volunteers as potential bone marrow donors.'Marrow', the student wing of the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, is staging the event, and one of the coordinators, medical student Jessica Morgan, said: "By attending the clinic you could potentially save a life. Students are ideal donors as they are generally young, fit and healthy and can stay on the register for a long time.
By attending the clinic you could potentially save a life
Jessica Morgan
"Everyone at HYMS believes this is a terrific opportunity for everyone - students, staff and the public - to get involved in something that could save someone's life. Last year’s Marrow clinic was a great success and we hope this year will be even better."
Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 40, weigh more than eight stones and be prepared to donate to anyone in the world irrespective of colour, social status, background or sexual orientation.
At the event, potential donors will receive an information booklet and fill out a short questionnaire before donating a blood sample. This will be sent to ANT for initial tissue typing, after which the donor will join the charity's bone marrow register.
Males and people from ethnic minorities are being urged to attend the clinic, as these groups are under-represented on the register.
Students at HYMS are involved in Marrow through Medsin, a national network of students whose mission is to inspire and train people to share knowledge, skills and understanding to improve health and reduce health inequalities locally and across the world.
Notes to editors:
- Marrow was established in 1998 by a medical student at Nottingham University (in conjunction with the Anthony Nolan Trust) who realised there was great potential for bone marrow donors among the student population. Marrow is now established in many medical schools throughout the country and last year recruited 3100 donors onto the register.
- HYMS was established by the Universities of Hull and York, in partnership with the NHS. Set up in answer to a national need for more doctors, HYMS welcomed its first students in September 2003.