Notting Hill carnival calls for bone marrow donors » Health » 24dash.com

London's Notting Hill Carnival this year is supporting the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) in an attempt to increase the number of bone marrow donors.

African Caribbean's have around a 1 in 100,000 chance of finding a compatible donor but for Caucasians the odds are closer to 1 in 5. Just 2.6%

Currently one in 40 of the total donors on the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood registers are of African Caribbean descent.

The Carnival team is hoping that a donor recruitment drive will boost the number of people of African, African Caribbean or Mixed Parentage origin on the bone marrow register.

Throughout the main Carnival weekend, August 26th and 27th, the ACLT are holding recruitment sessions at Tabernacle Arts Centre, Powis Square, Kensington and Chelsea, London, W11.

Revellers are therefore encouraged to register as potential donors before they start their Carnival partying.

Professor Mullard, Chairman of London Notting Hill Carnival Limited said: "We are delighted to be working with the ACLT, and we hope that Carnival-goers will take the time to think seriously about registering to be a potential bone marrow donor.

“It’s a big commitment, but one that could save the live of another.

“The theme of Carnival 2007, ‘Set All Free’, particularly links to the work of ACLT as they strive to help free leukaemia sufferers from the disease.”

Orin Lewis, co-founder of ACLT said: “We are delighted that we have been chosen to be the official charity of Carnival 2007. We know that recruiting donors at events such as Carnival really works.

“For instance, we have living proof that black leukaemia sufferers have received transplants from donors who came forward at previous events, including Carnival. We therefore hope that revellers register first, then enjoy the Carnival party.”

Londoner, Cyril Onyejekwe and Donna Benjamin, from Luton are both Bone Marrow sufferers who are hoping that amongst those that register at the weekend will be a potential match for them.

Donna Benjamin, 40 years of age, is suffering from Multiple Myeloma a cancer of the plasma cells within the bone marrow, and her only chance of life is to have a full bone marrow transplant.

She has no family match, and now her relatives are relying on a stranger to save her life.

Donna's family, friends and her 17-year-old daughter Jessica, are desperate to maximise her chance of survival, and are appealing to the African, African Caribbean and Mixed Parentage communities to take time out before they start to party at Carnival to register to become bone marrow donors.

Cyril Onyejekwe is desperately seeking a potential donor after tests on his sister Franca failed to find a match.

50-year-old Cyril is the head of a large family, with four children of his own, plus two stepchildren from his wife Janet's previous marriage. His twin girls Emma and Katie are just 14 years old. He also has four granddaughters.

He is facing up to his battle with a rare bone marrow disease, Myelofibrosis with courage and positivity.

Cyril said: "More ethnic minority people need to register. Although there are approximately 750,000 people registered as donors in Britain, only approximately 22,000 are of African, African Caribbean or Mixed Parentage origin.

“Notting Hill Carnival celebrates multi-cultural London, and we need people from all communities to register to help people like Donna and I find a potential donor."

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