10'000 Donors - My fight to live beyond 7 years
Donation protected
Hi!
My name is Pete. 40 years old Ironman triathlete, rugby coach, with a wife and 2 boys aged 8 & 5 and a penchant for savoury snacks.
You might be able to help save my life and those of so many people the world over…literally (with nothing more than a swab of your cheek! Please read on..!)
In a nutshell…
2 days after finishing Ironman Wales in 2016, I was admitted to the Countess of Chester hospital with legionairres, pneumonia and sepsis. Not too long after that, I was diagnosed with myeloma, a blood cancer. Apparently I had had it when I first started out running triathlon in 2015 but had simply persevered through the symptoms.
Since then I have been undergoing chemotherapy, had surgery to repair 3 broken vertebrae and 12 weeks ago, started my recovery from a stem cell transplant.
There is no cure for myeloma and I have been told that I have 7 years to live if all goes well.
However, there is hope.
If I can find someone to donate me their stem cells (my previous treatment used my own) then there is real hope of smashing the 7 year projection considerably.
To date, despite 30 million people on a register globally, I have not been found my match. (I am a bit of a genetic mix being 3rd generation Macanese (Chinese/Portuguese) with English and Irish thrown in for good measure.
And sadly, so many people the world over find themselves in the same situation. Especially in BAME communities which are wholly under represented.
The technology is there, but the fundamental tool i.e. the stem cells are not.
But there is a match out there somewhere for us all .
I just have to find them!
So I have started a campaign called “10’000 Donors” (10000donors.com )
I want to recruit 10’000 new donors to the stem cell register (so far we have nearly 4000 new donors and a confirmed 3 matches for patients!! Lifesaving stuff literally)
And when I achieve that, I’ll go for a bigger number.
I have written a presentation I am taking on the road, globally, to corporates, communities, whoever will listen.
So far I have self funded this venture, as it really is a matter of life and death for people in my position. But it has come to a tipping point where family financial commitments have to take precedent.
All I want is to make 10’000 Donors a more self-sustaining venture. If I can raise any funds at all it will go on stuff like travel costs and accommodation when I get offered the chance to present.
I have chosen £10'000 as a target for obvious reasons! But please know that any unused donations will never be pocketed by me and will go to charities such as DKMS , Anthony Nolan , ACLT and Myeloma UK
But look, if you have got this far and don’t fancy contributing. That’s cool. But please do consider registering as a stem cell donor (go to 10000donors.com and follow the link!) because that truly is the currency that matters most for me and people like me.
Registering costs you nothing and it is as simple as swabbing your cheek. Painless too!!! But life saving.
This really is a numbers game.
The more people who engage, the greater my chance, and that of the thousands afflicted by blood cancer, have of surviving.
Many thanks (for getting this far!)
Pete
My name is Pete. 40 years old Ironman triathlete, rugby coach, with a wife and 2 boys aged 8 & 5 and a penchant for savoury snacks.
You might be able to help save my life and those of so many people the world over…literally (with nothing more than a swab of your cheek! Please read on..!)
In a nutshell…
2 days after finishing Ironman Wales in 2016, I was admitted to the Countess of Chester hospital with legionairres, pneumonia and sepsis. Not too long after that, I was diagnosed with myeloma, a blood cancer. Apparently I had had it when I first started out running triathlon in 2015 but had simply persevered through the symptoms.
Since then I have been undergoing chemotherapy, had surgery to repair 3 broken vertebrae and 12 weeks ago, started my recovery from a stem cell transplant.
There is no cure for myeloma and I have been told that I have 7 years to live if all goes well.
However, there is hope.
If I can find someone to donate me their stem cells (my previous treatment used my own) then there is real hope of smashing the 7 year projection considerably.
To date, despite 30 million people on a register globally, I have not been found my match. (I am a bit of a genetic mix being 3rd generation Macanese (Chinese/Portuguese) with English and Irish thrown in for good measure.
And sadly, so many people the world over find themselves in the same situation. Especially in BAME communities which are wholly under represented.
The technology is there, but the fundamental tool i.e. the stem cells are not.
But there is a match out there somewhere for us all .
I just have to find them!
So I have started a campaign called “10’000 Donors” (10000donors.com )
I want to recruit 10’000 new donors to the stem cell register (so far we have nearly 4000 new donors and a confirmed 3 matches for patients!! Lifesaving stuff literally)
And when I achieve that, I’ll go for a bigger number.
I have written a presentation I am taking on the road, globally, to corporates, communities, whoever will listen.
So far I have self funded this venture, as it really is a matter of life and death for people in my position. But it has come to a tipping point where family financial commitments have to take precedent.
All I want is to make 10’000 Donors a more self-sustaining venture. If I can raise any funds at all it will go on stuff like travel costs and accommodation when I get offered the chance to present.
I have chosen £10'000 as a target for obvious reasons! But please know that any unused donations will never be pocketed by me and will go to charities such as DKMS , Anthony Nolan , ACLT and Myeloma UK
But look, if you have got this far and don’t fancy contributing. That’s cool. But please do consider registering as a stem cell donor (go to 10000donors.com and follow the link!) because that truly is the currency that matters most for me and people like me.
Registering costs you nothing and it is as simple as swabbing your cheek. Painless too!!! But life saving.
This really is a numbers game.
The more people who engage, the greater my chance, and that of the thousands afflicted by blood cancer, have of surviving.
Many thanks (for getting this far!)
Pete
Organizer
10000 Donors
Organizer
England