It happened to me… bone marrow transplant

Every year, around 3000 people in the UK undergo a bone marrow transplant (also known as a stem cell transplant)...
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Each year, around 3000 people in the UK undergo a bone marrow transplant (also known as a stem cell transplant) to treat blood cancer and other blood disorders.

Everyone needs healthy bone marrow and blood cells to live, but sometimes they can be damaged by disease.

The good news is that bone marrow transplants offer hope of a potential cure.

Who can donate bone marrow?

Healthy stem cells can be donated by a close relative or a complete stranger. Sometimes, a doctor may choose to use the patient's own stem cells.

The new cells are transfused into the patient's body where they start to make healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Peter Threader, 66, was working for a barrister in Manchester when, in September 2011, a routine blood test flagged up an abnormality in his platelet count.

Although he felt well, further tests showed that he had a rare blood disorder called hypoplasticmyelodysplasia.

He was told that the condition was serious and that treatment options were limited. In fact, his best chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant.

Unfortunately, his twin sister was not a match for him. Two-thirds of UK patients who need a transplant cannot find a matching donor within their own family.

Stem cell register

Fortunately, the UK charity, Anthony Nolan, has a UK stem cell register that holds the details of 551,279 potential donors.

This service enables patients who need a stem cell transplant or bone marrow transplant to find a match. Donor stem cells have to be an exact match – or a very close match – to the cells of the recipient, otherwise, the recipient's body will simply reject them.

The charity found David Maguire, 27, from Rhyl in North Wales, who was a match to Peter and David agreed to donate his own stem cells to aid Peter's recovery.

Donating stem cells

The process of donating takes around five hours and is similar to blood donation.

An intravenous (IV) catheter is placed in both arms and blood is taken from one arm, where stem cells are removed outside the body using a filtering process, then returned to the donor's body via a catheter in the other arm.

'It does take some time, but it doesn't hurt. The donor may feel a little fluey for a few days afterwards, but nothing serious,' explains Emma Innes, a communications officer at Anthony Nolan.

Preparation and treatment

Peter himself had to go through a process known as conditioning therapy before the transplant could go ahead.

He needed to have high doses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to prepare his body for the transplant and suppress his immune system.

On transplant day, he received the cells in a process that is similar to a blood transfusion or taking medicine through an intravenous (IV) catheter.

The transplant went ahead at the Christie Hospital in Manchester in 2012 and Peter has now made a good recovery.


David, who works with disabled children, met Peter recently and the two men are now campaigning for more adults aged between 16 and 30 to sign up with the Anthony Nolan stem cell donor register.

The charity is focusing on this age group because younger people are more likely to be chosen as a match for patients.

While on the register you have a 1 in 1200 chance of being asked to donate. However, a young person aged 16-30 has a 1/300 chance of being chosen to donate. Once you are on the register, you stay on until you reach 60.

The charity is also keen to recruit more donors from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds as only 20.5 per cent of recipients from these backgrounds currently receive the best possible match. That rate rises to 60 per cent in White recipients.

'By building and diversifying our register we will be able provide the best match to even more people with blood cancer,' explains Emma.

Last year, the charity recruited a potential 49,241 new donors.

Peter is delighted he has had a chance to thank David face-to-face for saving his life. 'It was wonderful to be able to meet him in person and to hear more about his experience of donating – I was delighted to hear that he actually enjoyed the process.'

David says that donating bone marrow is hugely rewarding and worth the effort. 'I was really happy to see Peter looking so well – it was great to meet him and his wife.

'They have kept saying thank you to me, but I don't feel I need thanking – I want to thank them for allowing me to have this amazing experience.'

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