This Ramadan help save Shahera.
Ramadan is a time of reflection and giving, most of you delve deep into your pockets, but this year we come to you with a different type of appeal.
Can you help us give little Shahera a second chance?
On the surface beautiful little Shahera looks like any young girl, she enjoys going to school, playing with her dolls, and drawing. Furthermore, she also loves to play Lego and board games with her big brother. But, Shahera isn’t like other young girls, in November 2019 she became diagnosed with a blood disorder, a rare immunodeficiency disorder which means she can’t produce enough white blood cells to fight off infections. This can result in her becoming critically ill.
Therefore, her best chance of survival is a matching blood stem cell donation.
“whoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind”
Qur’an 5:32
The race is now on to find her a match, unfortunately none of her family are, so Shahera urgently needs the kindness of a stranger to donate their stem cells to give her a second chance of life.
Could this be you?
Can you help give Shahera a second chance?
Moreover, to make matters more complicated Shahera is from a British Asian heritage, this makes it much harder to find a matching donor for her. Depressingly, patients, like Shahera have just a 37% chance of finding an unrelated stem cell donor, compared to 72% for people with white, European heritage. So, more people from ethnically diverse backgrounds need to come forward to join the blood stem cell register to help Shahera and those others in need.
Depressingly, patients like Shahera have just a 37% chance of finding an unrelated stem cell donor, compared to 72% from people with white, European heritage.
DKMS
So, more of us from ethnically diverse backgrounds need to come forward to join the blood stem cell register to help Shahera and others like her.
“It’s heart-breaking that there is no match for Shahera and other people from Asian backgrounds. Looking at her, you wouldn’t believe she was ill. You can’t really tell, but what is going on inside is a totally different story. We just want her to be cured soon, so she can have the happy, healthy, long life she deserves. We don’t want her to miss out on anything. We need to find Shahera a donor as soon as possible. We want to raise awareness in the Asian community so people can come forward – not only to help Shahera but for anyone who needs a donor.”
Amina, Shahera’s mum
However, looking for a matching stem cell donor is like looking for a needle in a haystack. When a blood cancer or blood disorder patient depends on a blood stem cell transplant to survive, they need a donor whose tissue characteristics are a 100 percent match, if possible.
Above all, Shahera and her family are working with DKMS, an international charity dedicated to fight against blood cancer and blood disorders by recruiting blood stem cell donors and providing second chances.
“For most people there is no single cure, a blood stem cell donation from a genetically similar person can offer the best treatment and could help give someone in need of a transplant a second chance of life. Just 3% of the UK’s population are registered as potential donors – and only a tiny proportion of these are from minority ethnic communities. We urgently need more donors from the South Asian communities so we can help Shahera and others like her get that second chance of life.”
Reshna Radiven, Head of Communications and Engagement at DKMS
After all, you may have mixed views about blood and organ donation because of your faith. In 2019, the Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence in Bradford said that ‘living / altruistic organ donation is permissible providing harm to the donor is negligible or relatively minor that it does not disrupt the life of the donor’ and ‘it is permitted to donate stem cells from adult tissue’.
Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer or blood disorder, such as leukaemia, myeloma or lymphoma. Often a blood stem cell transplant is their only hope.
How to register as a stem cell donor
In addition, the good news is that if aged between 17 and 55 years and in general good health, then you may be able to register as a blood stem cell donor.
It’s a quick and simple process:
- Register your interest at dkms.org.uk/asiansuk
- We will send you a swab kit
- Take three swabs from the inside of your cheeks
- Once we receive the swabs, you`ll be added to the donor register
Above all, this is the first vital step that could give someone like Shahera a second chance of life.
“Just 3% of the UK’s population are registered as potential donors – and only a tiny proportion of these are from minority ethnic communities.”
Reshna Radiven, Head of Communications and Engagement at DKMS
A Donor’s Perspective
Don’t take DKMS’ word for it, here’s what Baldesh, one of their donors said about donated her stem cells:
“On receiving the call that I was a match, I was initially overwhelmed about the process, but I went through with it as I knew that I was saving someone’s life. Firstly after having done the donation in February I can 100% say that every person in the UK should be joining the register. The low donation rates in the South Asian community is truly depressing. I am raising awareness in my podcast Changing Suits.”
This Ramadan give someone a second chance of life by joining the blood stem cell register.
Alternatively, other ways you can get involved with DKMS are:
Donate to our work at: www.dkms.org.uk/get-involved/donate-money
Or volunteer with us by emailing: volunteering@dkms.org.uk
About DKMS
Similarly, DKMS have the largest blood stem cell register in the UK and as a global organisation, they work in Germany, Poland, USA, India, South Africa and Chile. To date, DKMS has registered over 11 million potential blood stem cell donors worldwide. Over 95,000 people around the world have received a potentially lifesaving blood stem cell donation through DKMS. In the UK, DKMS has registered over 900,000 blood stem cell donors to date and helped to give over 1,600 people a second chance of life.
- The Ultimate Test of Trust and Treachery The Traitors Card Game.
- Asians UK partner with the Evening Standard’s SME XPO
- Dubai received 14 million international visitors in 2022
- Maldives Summer Holiday Family Fun
- Slide into Family Fun on the UK’s Longest Mega Slide