Michael Davitts raising awareness of stem cell donation

WEST Belfast club Michael Davitts have have joined up with the family of Eimear Smyth to help them raise Stem Cell Donor Awareness in their community.

Eimear died on June 27 2019, from complications of a donor stem cell transplant.

Following Eimear’s death the family started to campaign to raise stem cell donor awareness in Northern Ireland and encourage people to donate their stem cells with patients in desperate need of a life-saving transplant.

Eimear’s family and the Michael Davitts club are encouraging people to register as stem cell donors with Anthony Nolan, DKMS, and Giveblood.ie.

They are also calling for age appropriate care for teenagers and young adults who have life threatening illness such as blood cancer.

Currently once you are 16, our health care providers treat you as an adult. Northern Ireland is the only region which doesn’t provide age appropriate care.

Every 20 minutes in the UK someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer or blood disorder and for some patients their only chance of survival is stem cell transplant.

With only a 30 percent chance of finding a match from a family member most will be reliant on a complete stranger having joined a register like Anthony Nolan or DKMS.

33 people from Northern Ireland need to find a non related stem cell donor to have any chance of survival.

Fundamentally, the more donors that get on board, the more hope that can be created.

The club and family are reaching out to you, and the wider sporting community, to ask for your help in our mission to find a lifesaving donor for every patient facing transplant.

The Smyth family is approaching the GAA for the simple reason that donors between the ages of 16 and 30 provide the best possible long-term outcomes for patients.

They particularly want to reach out to young men in this age group as they are more likely to be chosen to go on and donate but are significantly underrepresented on the register.

There are many myths out there about what is involved in donating stem cells but, for nine out of ten donors, it involves a very simple out-patient procedure similar to giving blood – it really could be that simple to create Hope for someone with a life threatening illness.

With your position at the heart of the community and your audience of young people, and particularly young men, the family is hoping you can see the amazing opportunity to work together to raise awareness of the need for donors and dispel some of the myths surrounding donation.

There are likely to be many potential lifesavers amongst your followers, so it’s important that they have the opportunity to show them how.

The family is always looking for opportunities to work with partners to amplify our message and save more lives.

They also hoping to work with Davitts and many other clubs and counties to great effect, and would love the opportunity to discuss with clubs and Ulster GAA about further the opportunities for partnership with them, and to answer any questions you may have.

Not only will it lead to creating hope, but lives can be saved, the opportunity to create hope for people with life-threatening illness is something pretty amazing for all young people and is achievable regardless of academic achievements, social status or sporting prowess.

We are encouraging you go to this link and watch up close. It’s very moving but positive and tells Eimear’s story:

.https://www.itv.com/utvprogrammes/articles/up-close-eimears-wish

If your club would like to get involved please email us at: eimearswish@outlook.com or call 07450678785

More information about the campaign see Eimear’s Wish on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.