Wednesday 20th August
We are very sad today to hear the news that 26 year old Adrian Sudbury passed away in the early hours of this morning.
For those of you who may not have heard of this remarkable young man, Adrian was a journalist from Sheffield in England and had been diagnosed with two types of leukaemia in November 2006 - the only person in history to have had such a condition.
A bone marrow transplant was unsuccessful and only a few months ago Adrian was told the leukaemia was terminal. He decided to stop further treatment.
His campaign was simple…to get the word out about donating bone marrow, in an attempt to help more and more people who need bone marrow transplants to survive.
His blog has been an open, honest account of his fight against Leukaemia and people’s perception of the illness and their idea of what donating bone marrow is like. He has done more to press for information about the donation process to be given to the school and college age groups than anyone else.
Whilst this is obviously a very sad time it is also just the start of a journey that many will continue for him. His legacy will be the continued education of people as to the dire need for bone marrow donors around the world.
Rest in Peace Adrian, but know that your torch has now passed from you to millions of others who will continue to spread the message. The ACLT will continue to work alongside the Anthony Nolan Trust, the British Bone Marrow Registry, the National Blood Service and the World Bone Marrow Registers in our tireless effort to bring greater awareness therefore recruiting life savers in far greater numbers.
Please read the below text which highlights Adrian’s campaign which involved a meeting with our PM Gordon Brown
The dying wish of brave journalist Adrian Sudbury is to launch a campaign to get more people to sign up as bone marrow donors
I want more people to join the bone marrow donor register says 26-year-old Adrian, who has battled leukaemia for 18 months and now has only weeks to live.
“I want the importance of bone marrow donation, and how easy it is to become a donor, to be taught in schools”.
Adrian wants to see it adopted as part of the National Curriculum in schools or as part of students’ pastoral care if they are at college or university.
Adrian underwent a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment. He recently learnt that the transplant had failed – and was told further chemotherapy or radiotherapy would be unlikely to cure him. He made the decision to cease treatment and spend his last few weeks with family and friends rather than in hospital.
However, he has set himself one last task – to raise awareness of the need for more people to join the bone marrow donation register and give other leukaemia sufferers like him a chance at life.
Adrian believes (and we agree) that a healthy discussion about these issues, where our young adults are given all the facts and are able to engage in a debate, will be of benefit to many.
It is only right that young adults should be able to make an informed choice either way, at the present time there is too much misconception surrounding these procedures.
The ACLT has (and continues to) over years on a ad hoc basis presented bone marrow and blood donation powerpoint/video presentations at various schools, colleges and universities around the UK. We will continue to do so and hopefully at some time in the future will receive funds enabling the ACLT to increase the awareness initiatives and our timetable of educational presentations.
If people donate blood, or join a bone marrow register in their teens, then they will often continue to give blood and they will be on the register for a long time.
Imagine if these talks go ahead and maybe 10% of all the students decide to sign up to the register. That's an incredible amount of young people coming onto the register every year. The same would apply to blood donation too.
Now the plan is to try and get as many people to back this campaign as possible.
After the recess the Huddersfield MPs (Adrian’s home town) will return to Parliament and raise the issue again.
This will be in the form of tabling a motion or highlighting it with a Prime Minister's Question.
“There are currently 7,000 people out there waiting for a transplant,’’ he said.
“At least I had a chance with my transplant, whereas some don’t have that.”
Adrian and the ACLT believe this is an easy way to dispel the myths is to educate people about donation at a younger age.
In Germany, sixth form students are educated on becoming a bone marrow donor, why it is important and how they can apply.
As a result, Germany has one of Europe’s highest number of donors.
Adrian believes we need a similar system in British schools and colleges. It would mean more people are informed about becoming donors as standard, lessening the burden of raising awareness for charities such as the ACLT & Anthony Nolan Trust and the British Bone Marrow Register (NBS)
We are appealing for the many readers who have followed Adrian’s story – and his Baldy’s Blog at http://baldyblog.freshblogs.co.uk – to sign the petitions and pledge support to our campaign.
The campaign has already won backing from local MPs.
Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford has pledged her support and is making efforts to arrange meetings between Adrian and high level ministers. She also hopes to be able to raise a question about the issue in the House of Commons.
Kali said: “I have known Adrian since he first started working at the Express and Chronicle, when he was a very young man.
“He still is a young man and if someone like him can do so much and be so inspirational it might send a message to other young people better than any politician or someone older can.
“I think it’s a really good thing that someone in his position wants to send a message about the future even though he may not have one himself.
“Some of us might spend 80 years hoping for a legacy but he has already found a way of leaving one. If each of us tries to be part of his campaign, we will have done something good.”
The campaign is already attracting a wealth of support through a group created to raise awareness on social networking site Facebook.
The group – Bone Marrow Appeal – gained more than 100 members in its first two days and numbers are swelling, with people keen to spread the word about bone marrow donation and to support Adrian’s efforts.
Adrian himself is currently dedicating his time to giving interviews on TV, radio and in the National Press.
“It’s kind of a legacy for me,’’ he said. “Joining a register is one of the true acts of altruism and human kindness. Who knows, you may end up saving someone else on the other side of the planet.”
