Liam O'Brien needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life but the father-of-two still hasn't found a match.
"We're in a position where the cancer is progressing, and I don't have a clear match to cure it," he said.
"The velocity at which my cancer is progressing, if we don't cut it off soon, will become unmanageable."
As he faces his own battle against blood cancer, Mr O'Brien is rallying Aussies aged 18-35 to join the stem cell register by donating blood.
"If you do match as a donor … you sit in a chair, ostensibly donate blood which is where the marrow is housed, and that goes on to save someone's life," he said.
"It's an amazing gift."
However, for people in rural and regional Queensland wanting to help, it is easier said than done.
Lack of access for potential donors
The only way to register as a stem cell donor is by donating blood at certain Lifeblood donation centres, which are located in Brisbane and some major regional centres.
For a Mount Isa resident, the closest Lifeblood facility is a 25-hour return trip to Cairns.
From Longreach, it is a 15-hour return drive to Rockhampton.
Even in Townsville — the biggest city in northern Australia — residents must drive nine hours return to Cairns to register.
Mr O'Brien said expanding the pool of donors could be life-saving.
"Absolutely there is a need for people living in rural and remote locations to be able to offer their marrow because they might be that one person that matches with someone here in a metropolitan area," Mr O'Brien said.
The process of finding a donor has been an eye-opening experience for Mr O'Brien and his cousin, Queensland MP Robbie Katter.
"We’ve got people who want to help save lives ... and we’re not even giving them the opportunity when pretty much the rest of the world does," Mr Katter said.
Globally, most bone marrow donors are recruited through postal cheek swabs.
Lisa Smith from the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR) said with the green light from the government, postal swabs could be rolled out within months.
"The underlying problem that we have is that we're not getting enough donors through that blood donation channel," Ms Smith said.
"Also, in order to become a blood donor, you have to meet certain eligibility health requirements, which are not relevant to being a bone marrow donor."
Postal cheek swabs could 'save my life'
The Haemopoietic Progenitor Cell Sector Clinical Advisory Group, funded by state and federal governments, was established in August 2022 to consider reform options and recruitment strategies, including the cheek swabs.
The group's recommendations are due back in the first half of this year.
"Implementation of recommendations and reforms need to be decided by all governments," the Department of Health and Aged Care said in a statement.
Mr Katter has labelled the process "bureaucracy" and called for faster action.
"Any responsible health minister, either state and federal level, should be ashamed of it," he said.
"It's an issue that should be treated with the utmost urgency, but it simply isn't."
Mr O'Brien stressed there were thousands of people who could benefit by getting more Australians registered as bone marrow donors.
"This has the chance to actually save my life and save the 10s of thousands of people in my situation, their life as well, it would seem like a no-brainer," he said.
