RN Command swab may save a life

Commodore Jock Alexander OBE and members of his Command team encouraged registration as a potential bone marrow donor by taking a swab for the charity Delete Blood Cancer UK. 

Mr Keith Knowles approached Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton and its personnel for support in the form of registering with the charity ‘Delete Blood Cancer UK’. This followed the diagnosis of his friend, Yaser Martini's 17 month old daughter Margot, diagnosed with a very rare form of Leukaemia that requires a stem cell transplant. 

The process of registering as a potential bone marrow donor and taking a swab to identify your tissue type is simple and only takes 5 minutes. 

There is a 1 in 500 chance of being asked to actually donate bone marrow so the likelihood is low; however considering that over 4000 people work on the air station there is a chance that one person may hold the key to saving a life. 

The Commodore and other Heads of Department have publicly supported this having already had their swabs taken; and would like to encourage others on the Station to do the same. 

The process of registering as a potential bone marrow donor and taking a swab to identify your tissue type is simple and only takes 5 minutes. When asked "how did you hear about us" please select 'Team Margot' from the drop-down box to enable them to track registrations. Once registered the swab kit is delivered to your selected address with an envelope for return to the organisation. 

https://www.deletebloodcancer.org.uk/become-a-donor/register.html 

Further details on how bone marrow is donated can be found on the web site below. 

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bone-marrow-donation/Pages/How-is-it-performed.aspx