World Marrow Donor Day 2024
Leukaemia Foundation staff come together to raise awareness for the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR), and the need for more Australians to register.
World Marrow Donor Day is an initiative of the World Marrow Donor Association, and aims to celebrate all blood stem cell donors worldwide. The day also serves to highlight the need for more blood stem cell donors across the globe.
On Friday, September 20, a day before World Marrow Donor Day, Leukaemia Foundation staff came together nationwide to urge eligible Australians to become a blood stem cell donor. They were joined in the Melbourne office by Leukaemia Foundation ambassador Urvi Majumdar, who is a strong advocate for the ABMDR.
Urvi is an Australian comedian, writer, actor, and producer. In 2022, Urvi’s father was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This shocking diagnosis prompted her and her family to connect with the Leukaemia Foundation for support.
“It was a complete shock for my family and one of the most difficult periods we’ve been through,” Urvi says. Later that year, her dad required a stem cell transplant to survive, and Urvi was fortunate enough to be a match.
“I was lucky to be my dad’s stem cell donor, a life-saving procedure that gave him hope.”
In Australia, more than 600 blood cancer patients need donated stem cells for a potentially life-saving transplant every year. With not enough Australians registered on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR), 3 in 4 stem cell donations must be sourced internationally.
Urvi shared her family’s blood cancer story with several Leukaemia Foundation staff members in Melbourne. She also talked about her experience donating her stem cells to her father, which she described as an easy, straightforward process.
Eligible Australians aged between 18-35 can sign up to be a blood stem cell donor via the Strength to Give website. A simple cheek swab is all it takes to get started, and possibly save the life of a critically-ill blood cancer patient.
Learn more about Strength to Give and the Australian Bone Marrow Donor registry.