"Thirteen months of remission, six months of treatment, four rounds of chemotherapy and one beautiful wedding later, we believed we had seen the last of this disease, only for Sarah to relapse 3 days before Xmas 2005."
Mark Thompson
Sarah and I went to the same sixth form in south London as teenagers. Although there was no hint of romance back then, the two us bumped into each other on numerous occasions over the years, partly through mutual friendships but also because we shared a love for working with young people (both of us were youth workers when we still easily young enough to be counted as youths ourselves). We are both mixed-race (Jamaican fathers, English mothers) and both graduated from University and ended up qualified teachers although by very different routes. Sarah went on to teach in the secondary school she had attended as a pupil and to work with young people with sexual health issues (travelling to Africa to study AIDS care in 2003). I pursued a career as an actor, before retraining to teach drama, as well as being a singer, DJ, and performance poet! Jack off all trades master of…
We found each other again 3 years ago (February 2003) and fell madly in love! At Xmas 2003 I proposed and we were officially engaged on Sarah’s birthday in January 2004. In May we had a party early to celebrate my birthday, our wedding was planned and organised for July, the dresses bought we were looking forward to a wonderful day. The day after the party Sarah was suddenly, but briefly, very unwell. She also had some odd bruises and small red marks and on the Monday (17th May – my 31st birthday) I persuaded her to go to the Doctor’s. A wonderful Locum at her GP sent her straight to the hospital and by that evening, after her fear of needles had caused her to faint whilst waiting for routine blood tests; I knew we were trying to rule out Leukaemia. Just two hours on the internet, once I had been forced to leave her in the hospital at 1am, and I had what turned out to be a very accurate diagnosis of AML. This was confirmed by our consultant the next day.
Sarah had 4 rounds of chemo and went into remission after the first and completed her treatment in November 2004. The year that followed was amazing and included the proudest day of my life when we got married in March 2005. Sarah went back to work April, as well as training as a life-coach, bringing positivity and joy to everyone’s lives and Mark completed his teacher training. I mean while was working for a theatre company and supply teaching whilst developing my skills as performance poet by entering Slam poetry competitions.
Sadly, three days before Christmas 2005, we were told the cancer was back and that treatment would begin again between before the new-year. As usual, we grasped every precious moment of health and freedom by spending a wonderful 5 days over Christmas in Tenerife!
Sarah went into hospital to begin chemo in the first week of January 2006 and it is a very powerful combination of drugs they are using which leaves her with no immune system, making very minor infections life threatening. She has also been told she will need a bone marrow transplant in order to make a full and sustainable recovery.
Sarah and I had come into contact with the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) – a campaign to raise awareness about the lack of ethnic minority donors on the bone marrow donor register.
Unfortunately registration amongst the black, mixed-race and ethnic minority communities is significantly lower than amongst the white community. At the moment the age range to register new donors is 18 to 43, although you can still donate bone marrow once registered until the age of 60. The reason that you can’t register between 43 and 60 is that it is not considered cost effective as the registration process costs about £75. In the case of ethnic minorities, the chances of finding an appropriate match drop from 1 in 5 if you have only a Northern European heritage, to 1 in 100,000 if you are from ANY of the ethnic minorities.
Living in one of the most culturally and racially diverse and integrated cities in the world means that I know one thing for certain. There is someone out there who is a tissue type match with Sarah. All we have to do is convince them to come forward and join the register and the doctors will do the rest.
Sarah, a teacher who works in a school in Peckham (South East London) of where she herself was a pupil, celebrated her 32nd birthday on the 11th January 06 in an isolation room in a South London Hospital. If you don’t already know what present to give her to celebrate this joyous day, please call the ACLT and they will let you know what she would really like. What ever your heritage you could help somebody like you.
PS. If you are too old or too young, or if there is a medical reason why you can’t give the gift of life, please spread the word to your family and friends or anyone else who could help. Also the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) could always do with funds to help support them, supporting people like us. You may donate via the top right hand corner of this page.
The following information highlights the forthcoming ACLT registration clinic date and location:
Thursday 30th and Friday 31st March the ACLT will host a registration drive in conjunction with 'Find the Time' at the University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LS. Time: 10am till 5pm.
Saturday 22nd April, Time 10am to 6pm at the London Fire Brigade Southwark Training Centre, (Sir Frederick Delve Suite), 94 Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 OSD.
Wednesday 26th April, Time 2pm to 9pm at the Waverley School - Homestall Road, London, SE22 0NR
Thursday 2nd May, Time 10am till 5pm at the Lambeth College, 45 Clapham Common Southside, London SW4 9BL
Sunday 29th May and Bank Holiday Monday 30th May, Afro Hair & Beauty Show - Alexandra Palace, North London, N22 7AY. Time: 10:00am till 7:00pm
With the love of friends and family she overcame this once before.
New hurdles here to leap with me, she’ll overcome these as well I’m sure.
She needs however something today that we unfortunately could not lend.
So with these words we look for help, to an unrelated and, as yet, unknown friend.
Help beyond the many products of blood already gratefully received,
Now this new friend’s very bone marrow is required for her to be relieved.
A brief blood test could be the start of a whole new lease of life,
Could end times of tribulation for the inspiration that is my wife.
This donor could be short or tall, rich or poor it’s all the same to us
Only speak in the Queen’s English, or in de patois of Jamaica cuss
Use the rhyming slang of cockney’s, or speak in Geordie vernacular
We don’t care where they have travelled from, no distance is too far
They could have themselves a PhD or not even know how to spell
Use of deodorant is unimportant, their bone marrow will not smell
Their form need not be perfect, like the David of Michelangelo
As no minor bodily defect in that donated marrow would show
To them the risks are minimal the possible benefits immense
The opportunity to positively change the world in truly tangible sense
This friend’s act is so amazing, they are a life saver it’s true
But the thing that’s most amazing of all, is that this friend just might be you
Thanks you from both of us, in advance for all your support. Remember, there is no justice, just us.
Thank you for reading my appeal
Mark Thompson
Information supplied by the African Caribbean Leukemia Trust
