PUPILS at Aston Academy have been recruited as potential lifesavers by the national charity who gave one of its pupils a second chance at life.
The Anthony Nolan Trust match individuals – mostly between the ages of 16-19 – who are willing to donate their blood stem cells or bone marrow to people with blood cancer and blood disorders, who desperately need lifesaving transplants.
Representatives from Sheffield Marrow visited Aston Academy to swab the Rotherham school’s post-16 pupils. From left: Amelia Smith, Alex Smedley – from Sheffield Marrow – with Aston Academy teacher Brett Sutcliffe and pupil Bradley Careless.
Representatives from student group Sheffield Marrow – who work with the Anthony Nolan Trust – have been at the Rotherham secondary school delivering assemblies and taking cheek swabs from volunteers, whose details will now be placed on a national register.
In April 2019, Fifteen-year-old Aston Academy student Harrison Walch was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. He has been receiving intensive treatment at Sheffield Children’s Hospital and, in July, his family were given the news by their Anthony Nolan transplant consultant that a suitable donor had been found.
Mum Nickie Walch said: “Our world completely changed overnight when Harrison took ill. He had no obvious symptoms; he was a happy, healthy teenager who had rarely been ill in his life.
“When you’re told that your child has cancer, you go through a range of emotions from anger to sadness. It’s an emotional turmoil; there’s no worse feeling as a parent.
“We knew that Harrison would need a transplant and there is usually a one-in-four chance of a sibling being a suitable match. However, Harrison’s sister, Daisy (17) was only a 50% match and my husband Steve and I were also just a 50% match.
“Harrison has a rare tissue type and so there was a bit of a wait before a donor was found. We were so relieved to find a match for Harrison on the Anthony Nolan register – but it will take a further two years before life can return to some kind of normality, before we know whether the transplant has been a complete success.”
Nickie contacted Aston Academy and asked the school if they could urge their students to sign up to the Anthony Nolan Trust register.
Teacher Brett Sutcliffe, Harrison’s form tutor, went one step further than just passing on the message; he asked Sheffield Marrow to come into school to swab Aston Academy’s Post-16 students. He has also been fundraising for the Oncology Ward at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, which is currently treating Harrison.
“As a school, Aston Academy have always held fundraising events for Sheffield Children’s Hospital,” said Mr Sutcliffe.
“We recently held a Halloween disco, which raised more than £600. There is a Christmas Fayre coming up and we have taken part in the hospital’s annual Snowflake Appeal for several years now.
“We particularly wanted to raise money for the Oncology Ward, which is treating Harrison, because of the link with school. Along with members of Harrison’s family and friends, we have raised almost £28,000.
“Harrison’s story has touched everyone here at Aston Academy and I wanted our pupils to have the opportunity to possibly give someone a second chance at life by signing up to the register.
“By having Sheffield Marrow come into school to swab the students, we have been able to add another 50 names to the register in just a few hours.
“We’re hoping to make this an annual event in a bid to recruit more donors.”
The Anthony Nolan Trust help three people in the UK find a lifesaving donor every day. There are just under 760,000 people on the stem cell and bone marrow register but more people – particularly young boys – are needed to join.
Amelia Smith, of Sheffield Marrow; representing Anthony Nolan, said: “It has been fantastic to come here to Aston Academy and sign so many people up to the register.
“In 2009, Anthony Nolan launched the Hero project aimed at getting more 16-18 year-olds on the register. It was the lasting legacy of Adrian Sudbury; a Nottingham journalist who worked for the Huddersfield Examiner and who sadly died of leukaemia aged just 27.
“Adrian wanted to raise awareness of the stem cell, blood and organ register amongst young people and, over the last 10 years, 22,000 people have signed up.”
Donating to the register is simple and painless. Volunteers should fill in their details online at anthonynolan.org. They will then be sent a swab kit which contains a cotton bud and plastic bag. The cotton bud is used to swab the inside of your mouth and is then placed into the bag, before being posted back to Anthony Nolan.
Aston Academy pupil Sophie Gray (16) said: “Joining the register was so easy and it’s good to know that I could possibly save someone’s life.”
Her friend, 16-year-old Megan Owen, added: “Harrison has his whole life ahead of him and has been given a second chance, thanks to a donor who was on the Anthony Nolan Trust register. It’s a great feeling knowing that I could maybe one day help to save a life.”
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