Blood cancer survivor meets his lifesaver for the first time

A blood cancer survivor met the lifesaver who helped to give him a second chance at life, for the first time.

DKMS, a charity dedicated to the fight against blood cancer by recruiting potential blood stem cell donors, helped to facilitate the meeting and the pair attended its ‘Let’s Make A Spark’ award ceremony on Tuesday 20 March, at The Shard, London.

Peter Milburn, 56, a father of four and grandfather to three, from Marske by the Sea, North Yorkshire, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome on 4 February 2015. He was told his best chance of survival was to receive a blood stem cell donation. As none of his family were a match, the search began for an unrelated donor.

Peter said: “I was normally fit and active but I started to feel really tired all the time and thought that something wasn’t quite right. I booked a GP appointment and they took my bloods and I went home. That very night I received a call to say an ambulance was on its way. I was rushed to hospital as my blood level were dangerously low and I needed an urgent blood transfusion.”

After a number of months of receiving treatment Peter’s health was deteriorating and the search to find his potential lifesaver became urgent.

Aysha Lord, 40, a GP practice nurse from Rhyl, North Wales, registered with DKMS in June 2014 after seeing an appeal for a little girl called Margot. She said: “Margot reminded me of my daughter as she had beautiful red hair and that really touched me. So my husband and I registered online but I never thought anything of it.”

Aysha received a call from the charity to say she had been identified as a potential match for a patient in March 2015. She said: “I initially thought it was someone winding me up, so I was a bit off with the person. Then it dawned on me that this was a genuine call and I was potentially going to help save someone’s life.”

After additional testing it was confirmed Aysha was a match for Peter. Aysha said: “I’m not really an emotional person but I got a lump in my throat. It really choked me to be honest. Just knowing that someone is going through this and you’re the only thing that can help them was quite moving.”

Peter said: “Aysha was the only match in the world for me and I was relieved when they told me they’d found someone. I was told that, without a match, I would have just five years to live but I think I would have been gone before that.”

The transplant was cancelled at first as Peter was too poorly, but it eventually took place at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, in June 2015.

Aysha donated by a peripheral blood stem cell collection, where the blood is passed through a machine that isolates and collects the stem cells. This method is used in 90% of cases and the other 10% of collections are done through a bone marrow collection.

Peter said: “I was keen to get on with the transplant. I was thinking, I’ve got four children and it’s not fair on them to lose a dad. I was doing it for them and that’s what got me through.”

The day Peter had his transplant Aysha sent an anonymous get well card through DKMS and it was addressed to a ‘special stranger’. The card is proudly hanging on Peter’s hall for everyone to see. The pair continued to send anonymous letters and, in December 2017, they were able to find out each other’s identities. They have exchanged phone calls but had never met until now.

Aysha said: “You are picked to go and help this person you don’t know, you don’t know anything about but it doesn’t matter because I just thought if that was me or someone in my family I would want someone to help.”

“I will never forget when that tiny bag of my blood stem cells went out the door. I would donate again in a heartbeat and I would encourage others to register as potential lifesavers.”

Peter said: “Thanks to Aysha and DKMS I now have a few additional years to be a dad to my children, a husband to my wife and a grandad for my grandchildren. I’m so glad to be here – everything has been worth it. You don’t worry about the small things in life now, it’s brought me and my family closer and I’m glad I’ve got a second chance at life.”

The ‘Let’s Make A Spark’ guests were entertained by singer, Bethany Hare and the burlesque magician, Jasz Vegas, star of BBC TV’s Killer Magic.

Caroline Richardson, Interim Head of Fundraising at DKMS said: “Thank you to everyone who attended the ‘Let’s Make A Spark’ award ceremony and helped to celebrate the achievements of DKMS over the past year. We wanted to recognise our amazing supporters who work tirelessly to help achieve our goal of finding a matching donor for every blood cancer patient in need.

“The meeting between Peter and Aysha is an incredible story highlighting why it’s so important to register as a potential blood stem cell donor and help give someone a second chance at life.”

If you are aged between 17-55 and in general good health you can register for a home swab kit online at www.dkms.org.uk.

To register one potential blood stem cell donor it costs £40. DKMS relies on monetary donations to help cover this cost. Whilst the NHS is very supportive, it falls to charities like us to reach out to those lifesavers – please support us in registering more potential lifesavers and donate online.

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