30 Miles Walk for Haris - Blood Cancer Awareness Month

On the 21st of September 2024, a group of us will be undertaking the walk from Headingley Cricket Stadium (Leeds) to Thorncliffe Cricket Club (Chapeltown, Sheffield). The thirty miles walk will be to commemorate the life of our friend Haris Hussain - who sadly passed away aged 19 in February 2020. Our chosen starting point, Headingley Cricket Stadium, is where Haris hoped to fulfill his promising cricket career, and Thorncliffe Cricket Club as the finishing point, as it was Haris' first cricket club and his home overlooked the ground.

Haris Hussain was a promising left-hander who had represented Yorkshire at several age-group levels, who had a great passion for sport, especially cricket and ice hockey. Sharing his time between refereeing at the Sheffield Ice Hockey Clubs and playing first team cricket at Wath Cricket Club - he lived for the world of sport - whilst leaving an everlasting positive impact on the teams he played for, his family and his friends.

DKMS UK are the charity that supported Haris through his diagnosis, illness and battle with leukemia.

DKMS is an international charity dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders. DKMS recruit blood stem cell donors, provide second chances at life for those in need of a transplant, and raise funds to cover donor registration costs. They have registered over 1 million blood stem cell donors to date and helped to give over 2,100 people a second chance at life. To date, worldwide, DKMS has registered over 12 million potential blood stem cell donors, and over 110,000 second chances at life have been provided by DKMS.

Over 2,000 people each year in the UK need a blood stem cell transplant, however, just 3% of the UK’s population are registered as potential donors. Only a tiny proportion of these potential donors are from minority ethnic communities. That’s why we exist. The more people who register as blood stem cell donors, the better the chance for someone in need of a blood stem cell transplant.

If you are unable to donate anything please visit https://www.dkms.org.uk/register-now - to register as blood donor - to help give others a second chance at life.