West Midlands beats the UK average in lifesaving stem cell donor registrations - World Blood Cancer Day 2025

West Midlands beats the UK average in lifesaving stem cell donor registrations – but charity urges action on World Blood Cancer Day

• This World Blood Cancer Day (28 May), blood cancer charity DKMS urges people to complete a simple mouth swab to join the stem cell donor register

• Stem cell donation is a crucial lifeline for people with blood cancer – but just 3.2% of 16-65’s in the West Midlands are on the DKMS donor register

• This is greater than the UK average of 2.4%

New data released by blood cancer charity DKMS reveals that just 3.2% of 16-65’s in the West Midlands are registered as potential stem cell donors with DKMS – greater than the UK average of 2.4%.

As the UK marks World Blood Cancer Day on 28 May, DKMS is calling on people across the West Midlands to take action, and help to give people with blood cancer a second chance at life by joining the stem cell donor register.

Every 14 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer. For many patients, a stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their best or only chance of survival – but only a very small proportion of the UK population are currently registered as potential donors.

DKMS spokesperson Deborah Hyde says, “When a patient needs a stem cell transplant, only one in three will find a donor in their immediate family. This means that two thirds of patients will need to find a stranger who is a compatible stem cell match, and who can offer them a second chance at life. Joining the register means that you could offer that lifeline for someone in their time of greatest need. Most people will never be called to donate, but if you are, you have the potential to save someone’s life”.

One person whose life was saved by an anonymous stem cell donor is Emilia Mackay, 7, from Redditch. Emilia was just 5 years old when she was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, a rare and life-threatening blood disorder, and required weekly blood and platelet transfusions just to survive. Unfortunately, no one in her family was a match, so a global search began to find a stranger who could save her life.

This was an extremely difficult time for the family. Emilia’s dad James Mackay, says, “As a parent, my child being diagnosed with such a serious illness was my worst nightmare. When we knew that Emilia was reliant on the stem cell donor register, it was terrifying. It’s not easy to see the statistics about a match when it’s your own child who’s waiting”.

Fortunately for Emilia, a stranger in Germany had signed up to the DKMS stem cell donor register, and was identified as a match. That person agreed to donate their stem cells, which were then flown to Oxford before being quickly transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where Emilia was being cared for.

James says, “We were hopeful that there was someone out there who could help Emilia, but we weren’t expecting it to happen so quickly. We know of people who have waited months or even years to find a match. It’s obviously very emotional, the kindness of a random stranger means that my daughter has been given another chance at life. It’s wonderful that the West Midlands has more potential donors that elsewhere in the UK, but the numbers are still much too low. I would ask everyone to join the register, it gives you the opportunity to save the lives of people like my daughter”.

Since her transplant at the end of 2023, Emilia is thriving. For her "Stem Cell Birthday" on the first anniversary of her transplant, instead of receiving presents herself, Emilia asked for gifts to give to the isolation ward in Birmingham Children’s Hospital where children and babies spend months recovering after their stem cell transplants, just like she did.

James and Emilia are marking World Blood Cancer Day with DKMS by encouraging everyone aged 17–55 and in good general health to order a free swab kit via their website (dkms.org.uk), complete a simple cheek swab, and return it to be added to the register.

Things you didn’t know about blood cancer:

• Blood cancers are the third most common cause of cancer death in the UK.

• Every year, nearly 13,000 people die from blood cancer in the UK.

• At any one time there are around 2,000 people in the UK in need of a stem cell transplant.

• Of those registered, only 16 % are from UK minority ethnic backgrounds. This makes it more difficult for patients from these backgrounds to find a match

Signing up to the stem cell donor register is a quick and easy process involving some painless mouth swabs: if you are aged 17-55 and in general good health, you're eligible to join the register with DKMS. If you are then matched with someone needing a transplant, in nine out of ten cases donating is a simple, outpatient process similar to donating blood platelets.