Donor campaigns

Yvette

Yvette, 41, is an explorer who makes friends wherever she goes, whether it’s at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro or while cycling around the Outer Hebrides. When she’s not travelling, Yvette spends her life maintaining beautiful buildings for the nation, from Buckingham Palace to the Barbican.

In May 2021 , after fainting, feeling very fatigued and as if she had altitude sickness, Yvette was suddenly diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer. Since her diagnosis, Yvette has been in and out of hospital for chemotherapy.

For her birthday last October, she managed a weekend out of hospital, making time to catch the latest James Bond film with her brother.

"Colin, Yvette’s brother, said, “Our family has registered but it’s not enough. I hope if more people from the community know how quick and easy it is to do, and that it’s literally lifesaving, we can find a match. Not just for Yvette, but also for others who don’t have time to wait. I’m asking for everyone to sign up and share #SwabForYvette on social media to spread awareness that we all have the power to save lives with a simple mouth swab.”"

Colin, Yvette's brother

Yvette then started an experimental trial, but devastatingly, in February 2022, she was told not just that the trial had failed, but that without further treatment, she would have just three to six months left to live. Her only hope now is a blood stem cell transplant from a stranger.

Yvette is of mixed Chinese and Jamaican heritage and has been told her best chance of a match is with a donor of Chinese heritage. Yvette's brother Colin and sister-in-law Serena are calling out to the East Asian community in the UK and internationally to sign up to the blood stem cell register, so that Yvette, and others like her, can have a second chance of life.

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