A bone marrow campaign inspired by the late Examiner journalist Adrian Sudbury has been boosted by a sharp rise in male donors.
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan has reported a hike in the number of men signing up to be potential lifesavers in the past three weeks.
The flood of online applications from men comes after the charity issued an urgent appeal for men to join the bone marrow register.
The push saw male applications rise from 25% to 40% during August, as well as a 25% increase in people visiting its website.
The charity’s video – called What is a Real Man? – also received more than 1,500 views.
The success comes five years after the Examiner’s Adrian – nicknamed Sudders – devoted the final weeks of his leukaemia battle to campaigning for young people to be educated about bone marrow, blood and organ donation.
27-year-old Adrian’s legacy is the Anthony Nolan charity’s Register and Be A Lifesaver (R&Be) education programme, which has inspired thousands of young people to become potential lifesavers by registering as blood, organ, and bone marrow – or stem cell – donors.
Since launching R&Be, more than 96,000 16 to 18-year-olds have been given the facts about donation and more than 4,300 have signed up signed up as potential bone marrow donors.
Henny Braund, Anthony Nolan’s chief executive, was delighted with the charity’s recent boost.
She said: “The rise in men joining the register is extremely positive news but we still have a lot of work to do.
“Men account for around 80% of bone marrow donations yet young men make up just 12% of the register.
“Even with the recent increase in male potential donors, there’s still an imbalance that we urgently need to address.
“The fact remains that transplant centres are overwhelmingly choosing male donors, so we need to ensure that we’re providing transplant centres with the donors they need. Failure to do so could have serious implications for blood cancer patients around the country.”
To sign up to the register, visit www.anthonynolan.org .
