BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London hosted a recruitment drive to enrol members of the South Asian community onto the National Bone Marrow Donor Register.

A total of 59 new potential donors registered, meeting a key objective of the event – to address the lack of Asian donors on the Register which has made it difficult for children and adults of this ethnicity to find a life-saving match.

The initiative, organised by BAPS Charities in collaboration with Delete Blood Cancer UK, also highlighted the emotional story of Dushyant Mehta, a young boy from north-west London who has been diagnosed with Dyskeratosis Congenita – a condition which eventually leads to bone marrow failure. Prior to being diagnosed, Dushyant donated his own blood cells to his sister who also suffered from the condition. She sadly died in 2012.

Delete Blood Cancer is a bone marrow recruitment charity that serves to increase the pool of life-saving blood stem cell donors, and is part of the world’s largest donor centre. It previously partnered with BAPS Charities for a similar campaign at the Mandir in 2013.

A team of enthusiastic volunteers from both charities were present at the Mandir on Saturday 7 March supported by a vibrant information stall. They raised awareness about blood cancer and helped potential donors register by completing a simple form and taking a mouth swab.

The success of these campaigns is highlighted by the example of Vandan Popat, a university student who was recently called to transplant his bone marrow to a matching recipient, having registered at a previous recruitment drive organised by BAPS Charities at the Mandir.

Vandan shared: “I was called in on the day following my 21st birthday. I could not think of a better way of celebrating my coming of age, by giving new life to someone in need.”

To learn more about the work of Delete Blood Cancer UK, please visit www.deletebloodcancer.org.uk. To see how you can contribute, see their motivational new video: What Are You Made Of.

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