News / Bone marrow appeal for James gathering pace
A CAMPAIGN started by the family of a six year old boy with a rare blood disorder to encourage folk in Shetland and beyond to register as bone marrow donors is gathering pace at a remarkable rate.
Craig Smaaskjaer, whose nephew James Hawick was recently found to have the condition aplastic anemia, has decided to scale Ben Nevis seven times in as many days between 6 and 12 September to raise both funds and awareness of the Anthony Nolan Trust.
The Facebook page James’ aunt Carol Massey has created, ‘7in7 for James’, has attracted over 1,300 followers in the past few days and more than £4,500 has been raised already.
The disorder prevents James’ body from replacing blood cells and means that he requires a bone marrow transplant. When he was diagnosed a few weeks ago, Smaaskjaer said the family realised they knew very little about bone marrow and blood disease.
It transpired that no one in the family was a suitable match for a bone marrow transplant. When they looked into the matter in more detail, they discovered that it costs the Anthony Nolan Trust £100 every time they register someone as a donor.
“I’m going to do Ben Nevis seven times in seven days and see if folk pay attention to what we’re trying to do,” Smaaskjaer said. “There’s a huge lack of knowledge about what’s involved and how straightforward it can be.
“It’s a 20,000-to-one chance that we can get that match for James, but if you have that chance you go for it. We can’t just sit back and wait – I was driving myself mad – so we’ve thrown ourselves into doing this.”
Smaaskjaer climbed Ben Nevis in around 5-6 hours last year. He is quite confident about being up to the physical challenge, and plans to use “all the goodwill of folk” to give him the mental strength to complete all seven climbs.
He will be joined by James’ aunt Ingrid Hawick on the first day, and hopes that taking on the challenge will serve as a “galvanising tool to pull people in”.
The goal is simple: to get “everybody in Shetland to register, donate bone marrow donate funds, and get everybody they know internationally to register”.
He said the family had been bowled over by the “outpouring of goodwill” particularly within the Shetland community.
They are realistic about the long odds of finding a match for James, but Smaaskjaer points out there are many other families around the world – including some in Shetland – who find themselves in a similar position.
Smaaskjaer, who lives in Aberdeen, has also arranged for the Anthony Nolan Trust to visit Shetland for two days – beginning on 13 September – when they will mouth-swab potential donors.
Family friend Peter Malcolmson has kindly agreed to help coordinate efforts in the isles. He told BBC Radio Shetland that the main aim was finding as many people as possible aged 16-30 to give a saliva test.
While “older folk like me” cannot donate bone marrow, Malcolmson said, what they could do was donate money – and encourage their relatives around the world to register as donors.
“We need as many folk to go into this as we possibly can,” he said. “Hopefully their swab, if it canna help James, will maybe help other people.”
A family committee is to be formed this week and Malcolmson said they would be looking to organise venues where the Nolan trust can come and take swabs. He also hopes people will organise collection boxes at Sunday teas over the next few weeks.
- You can donate to Craig Smaaskjaer’s Just Giving page here. To get involved in organising events to find young bone marrow donors when the Anthony Nolan Trust visits Shetland in mid September you can contact Peter Malcolmson by phoning 01595 693247 / 07789 791396 or emailing peter@balaskerry.com, or contact Amanda Westlake by phoning 01595 696537 / 07886 914209 or emailing amanda.westlake@yahoo.co.uk.
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