- Kate Robertson is trying to find a stem cell donor for Mike Brandon, 29
- Mr Brandon was diagnosed with leukaemia on March 17 this year
- He is currently going through chemotherapy at Bristol Royal Infirmary
- He will need a stem cell transplant in July when the chemotherapy finishes
- Ms Robertson is urging people to join the Anthony Nolan donor register
- She also wants people to post ‘shaky face’ pictures on Facebook and Twitter while pledging to join the register
06:20 EST, 5 May 2014
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07:20 EST, 5 May 2014
A bride-to-be has launched a battle against the clock to find her fiancé a life-saving stem cell donor.
Kate Robertson, 31, has just 60 days to find a donor for Mike Brandon, 29, who has leukaemia.
She is urging people to join the donor register so that Mr Brandon can have the transplant he desperately needs when he finishes his current chemotherapy regime in early July.
Kate Robertson, 31, is trying to find a stem cell donor for Mike Brandon, 29, who has leukaemia
Ms Roberton, who lives Bristol, said: ‘Our friends and family in London and Bristol have rallied around, asking what they can do to help, and at least 20 of them joined the Anthony Nolan donor register straight away.
‘Any one of them could be a match for someone like Mike who needs a donor.
‘It’s so easy and straightforward to sign up. We started thinking that if we channel our energies into getting our friends, and friends of friends, and even strangers, to join the register, we could make a big difference.’
In March this year, Mr Brandon, who also lives in Bristol, started to suffer from fatigue and night sweats.
He visited a doctor who carried out blood tests and just four hours later he was given the devastating news that he has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
At the time Ms Robertson, a physiotherapist, was halfway through a six month backpacking trip in Burma.
Mr Brandon was diagnosed with leukaemia in March and will need a stem cell transplant in early July
Mr Brandon was diagnosed just three months after proposing to Ms Robertson. He went to a doctor after developing fatigue and night sweats and blood tests confirmed he had leukaemia
The couple had become engaged just three weeks before she left, while enjoying their last weekend away together before her trip.
Mr Brandon called Ms Robertson on her mobile while she was in a remote internet café in Burma.
She assumed he was ringing with good news because he had been waiting to hear the results of a job interview he had attended.
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
Visit www.anthonynolan.org to join the donor register.
On the website you can request a ‘spit kit’.
This will be sent to you in the post and you can provide a saliva sample by spitting into the pot and posting it back to the charity.
When Anthony Nolan receives the sample, you will be added to the register.
Ms Robertson is also running the #Shake4mike campaign.
She is urging people to post pictures of themselves shaking their faces on Facebook and Twitter while pledging to join the register.
She would also like them to nominate others to do the same.
She told MailOnline that she knew he had been having blood tests but that she just assumed they would come back normal.
Instead, 5,000 miles from home, she was told he had cancer.
Ms Robertson said: ‘I had been due to go on a three week trek in Nepal the following day, so if the news had come a day later, Mike wouldn’t have been able to reach me for weeks.
‘Thankfully, I got the message in time and after a gruelling 10 hour bus journey, 12 hour wait in Yangon, two 11 hour flights and a three hour car journey I was finally by his side.’
She added: ‘I was completely shocked when he told me. My only plan was to get home.
‘It was the worst day of my life. I tried to calm myself down and focus on getting home but the journey was awful.
‘I felt better a soon as I got to him.’
Ms Robertson went on to explain that this is not the first time her family has been struck by tragedy.
In 2005 her father, who was 59, developed a blood clot in his leg and died suddenly in front of her mother and sister.
A few weeks later her grandmother died, and just eight days after her death, Ms Robertson says her grandfather died of a broken heart.
Following the spate of expected deaths, Ms Robertson’s mother’s best friend, 38-year-old Simon, moved in to support the family.
Mr Brandon (pictured before his illness) is currently having chemotherapy and will need the transplant when the chemotherapy regime finishes. Devastatingly, none of his three brothers are matches for him
Shockingly, within two months he had suffered a brain haemorrhage and he also passed away.
Ms Robertson and Mr Brandon met in 2009 and Ms Robertson says he turned her life around and made her smile again.
She says he helped her to move on from the tragedies of 2005.
As a result, she says she is now determined to be his ‘rock’ and says she will not give up without a fight.
After his diagnosis, Mr Brandon started chemotherapy at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
He will finish his current chemotherapy regime in early July at which point he will need a stem cell transplant.
Ms Robertson worked with Anthony Nolan to launch the #Shake4mike campaign. She’s urging people to take pictures of themselves shaking their faces and to post them on Facebook while pledging to join the register
All of his three brothers have been tested but, devastatingly, none are a match for Mr Brandon.
Ms Robertson told MailOnline that there was about a 60 per cent chance that one of his brothers would be a match so it was a ‘devastating blow’ when they learned that none were matches.
As a result, he and his family have turned to the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan for help finding a lifesaving donor from the register.
Ms Robertson said: ‘Mike now has so much ahead of him – a new job, a wedding and building a family – but he desperately needs to find a matching stem cell donor so that he can focus on getting better and embrace his future.’
As a result, she is urging people to join the register by visiting www.anthonynolan.org and requesting a ‘spit kit’.
Potential donors, who must be between the ages of 16 and 30, can just spit into the kit and send it back to the charity and they will be added to the register.
Ms Robertson says she will be Mr Brandon’s rock and that she will not give up without a fight
Most people who join the register are never asked to donate.
However, for those who are, there are two different procedures they could be asked to undergo.
About 90 per cent will be able to donate their stem cells quickly and easily in a process similar to blood donation.
WHAT IS ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKAEMIA?
Leukaemia is cancer of the white blood cells.
Acute leukaemia is that which progresses rapidly and aggressively.
Lymphoblastic leukaemia is cancer of the lymphocytes – the white blood cells that fight viral infections.
Symptoms of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia include pale skin, tiredness, breathlessness and repeated infections.
It affects about 650 people a year in the UK and is the most common type of cancer in children.
Approximately one in every 2,000 children will develop it.
About 85 per cent of cases occur in children under the age of 15.
Treatment usually involves a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and a stem cell transplant is sometimes required.
Source: NHS Choices
This takes about four to five hours and sometimes needs to be repeated the following day.
However, it does not require a general anaesthetic and the donor will not be required to stay in hospital.
The other 10 per cent will be asked to donate by giving stem cells from the bone marrow in their pelvises.
This requires bone marrow to be taken from the pelvis and is usually carried out under general anaesthetic to prevent the donor experiencing too much pain.
Most donors who give in this way are required to stay in hospital for 12 to 24 hours to recover from the anaesthetic.
Ms Robertson is also asking that people get involved in the #Shake4mike campaign.
She wants people to take a photo of themselves while shaking their heads and to share the picture on Facebook or Twitter while pledging to join the donor register.
She hopes people will then also nominate a friend to do the same.
She told MailOnline: ‘The idea was to get people to shake their faces at cancer – at leukaemia.
‘We wanted to have a funny and light hearted campaign that people could really get behind.’
For more information about the campaign visit the Facebook page by clicking here.
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.
Justme,
Schweiz,
2 hours ago
I joined the Swiss Register 15 years ago and had to fight to do so as they said they only needed 40,000 doners to be able to use the international data base………… this really upset me as I had sworn I would become one if my daughter was clear of leukimia (they thought she had it at 5 months as she had no immune system of her own at that age and had pneumonia) Even after I offered to pay for the registration they still would not accept me as a donor only when someone fell off the 40,000 they already had was I able to redeem my promise!!!! I found this disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!
DC,
swansea, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Just checked out the website . 16 to 30 years of age . Suely that 30 yr limit is narrowing the field for donors .
Beck,
Yorks, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Just tried to join the register was rejected cause I’m too old at 40!! I’m really fit what if I was a match – how stupid.
zalk,
Lisbon,
4 hours ago
is there a way for a person living in another country to check if it is compatible? because i would like to help if i could
London1963,
London, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
London1963,
London, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
zalk,
Lisbon,
4 hours ago
is there any possibility for someone in another EU country to check if it is compatible? because i would like to help if i can
Justme,
Schweiz,
1 hour ago
guysomewhere,
great libertyland,
4 hours ago
i think all these donation should involve monetary exchange. there would be more people willing to donate to random strangers if they know they get paid and also save someone life too.
Donald Swank,
The Isle of Oh, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
I really hope you find a donor. It’s always the nice people that seem to get the worst luck. Be strong
Hasbadoola,
Surrey, United Kingdom,
5 hours ago
People can donate without the shaky head gimmick surely?
MyHeartBleeds4You,
Moonshine metropolis, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
I live in Bristol am willing and ready to donate.
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