Inverness friends' donations offer the gift of life
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Two Inverness teenagers have both been found to be matches for blood cancer patients in need of stem cell donations.
Scott Birnie has been told that out of 1.6 million would-be donors, he is a potential match for someone in need.
And the welcome news comes a little more than a year after his friend Kai Stewart received a similar call from the Anthony Nolan Trust.
Both former Culloden Academy pupils joined the register after learning about it during a talk at school.
The Anthony Nolan Trust has been Scottish Fire and Rescue’s nominated charity for several years and as part of the link-up, firefighters tour schools to spread awareness of the register.
Mr Birnie, who is now studying sports coaching at Inverness College UHI, will travel to London next month for a four-hour procedure known as peripheral blood stem cell collection, which involves taking blood from his arm.
A machine extracts the stem cells before the blood is returned through his other arm.
He said: “I don’t like needles but I will overcome my fear to do this. I am actually quite excited about it – it’s a good thing to do.”
The 18-year-old, of Hazel Avenue, is unaware of the recipient’s identity and will only find out who they are if he or she gives permission.
Mr Stewart, also 18, who is studying electrical engineering at Edinburgh Napier University, underwent the same procedure in November 2018.
He said: “A few friends and I thought it would be a good idea to help, so we got involved and managed to recruit 42 people for the register.”
He subsequently turned out to be a close match for someone and travelled to King’s College Hospital in London to make his donation. Mr Stewart added: “Once I was hooked up to the machine, it was a five-hour wait for the donation to finish, so I even had a quick nap during the process and the rest of the time just chatted to my mum.”
He donated eight million stem cells and later received a letter to say the patient – an adult male – was doing well.
“It felt a very worthwhile and fulfilling experience,” he said. “I hope Scott’s case goes as well as mine did.”
People on the Anthony Nolan Trust register have a one-in-800 chance of being asked to donate, while young men aged 16 to 30 have a one-in-200 chance.
However, the charity acknowledged it was “very unusual” for close friends to be selected as donors.
Amy Bartlett, the trust’s regional register development manager for Scotland, said: ‘It’s fantastic that Scott will be following in Kai’s footsteps, travelling to London next month to donate his stem cells to someone in desperate need of a transplant. Donating stem cells is an entirely selfless act that will give someone with blood cancer a second chance of life.”
Anyone interested in joining the register should go to anthonynolan.org/donor-application/begin or call 0303 3030303.
