An East London woman who desperately needs a stem cell donor says she has been left speechless by an “amazing” appeal for help launched by her family and friends.
Yvette Chin, from Walthamstow, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia last May and has been told she could only have months to live unless she finds a donor.
The former Buckingham Palace project manager, 41, is currently having an intensive course of chemotherapy at St Bart’s Hospital, but the last hope to treat the rare aggressive blood cancer is a stem cell transplant from the bone marrow register.
It needs to be a 90 per cent genetic match. But Ms Chin, left, said tests revealed her brother is not a match and her parents are too old to be donors.
She said: “I need as close to an ethnic match as possible so predominantly I’m Chinese and on my dad’s side he is Chinese Jamaican so that adds to the complication, the mixed heritage, to then get a match.
“This campaign and appeal that my friends and family have taken upon themselves to do is just amazing. The momentum we have had in about eight working days and trying to get the word out is amazing.”
Her brother, Colin, has helped launch a “#SwabForYvette” campaign to encourage people to become donors with a “simple mouth swab”.
To register as a stem cell donor in the UK, visit anthonynolan.org, dkms.org.uk or bbmr.co.uk
