The family of Savita Taneia are appealing to the public in a desperate attempt to find a life-saving bone marrow donor. Savita lives in Adelaide, Australia with her husband and two daughters. High School teacher Savita, 50, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in June this year and has since undergone three rounds of chemotherapy. She has two brothers and two sisters who have all been tested but none of them were a match for Savita. The Bone Marrow Registry has also been unable to find a match for her.

Savita's daughter, Henna Taneja, 25, said her mother's illness was currently in remission but there was a high probability it would return. "She urgently needs a bone marrow transplant for her long-term survival because the type of leukaemia she's got, the chance of a relapse is very high and if the cancer relapses there are very limited treatment options for her and her chances of survival are very slim". "So we have a very limited period while she's in remission to find a match for her for a bone marrow transplant." Therefore, her family in Adelaide, sister in Brisbane and brother in Boston have decided to conduct bone marrow recruitment drives with the help of the respective registries to find a match for her. Because Savita is of South Asian descent the chances of finding a match for her are most likely from a member of the South Asian community (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri-Lankan & Nepalese).

Savita's daughter Henna makes this heartfelt appeal to the South Asian community in the UK:

"Anyone anywhere can be a match for our mum. This is an appeal to all South Asians in UK to please come forward and become a registered donor. You may be the one to save our mum's life. It only takes a few minutes to give a blood sample and make a lifetime of difference!" By getting tested and joining the bone marrow register you make yourself available to help a patient that needs a bone marrow transplant and if you do not match Savita, maybe you can help one of the thousands of other patients in a similarly desperate situation.

Link to Savita’s website: www.matchsavita.com

Please CLICK HERE to read about the 2 donation procedures

If you would like to join the bone marrow register to help Savita and the many thousands of people who are searching for a bone marrow match world wide, then please click here to visit our Clinics page to check the dates of our next recruitment clinic.