Dana Air joins life-saving call for stem cell donors for cancer patient, Astrid
Nigeria’s Dana Air has joined the search and call for donors of stem cell for a patient diagnosed with cancer of the blood.
A Nigerian- German mother, Astrid, 41, is in need of a stem cell transplant to survive a disease she was diagnosed with in September 2018, after visiting her doctor for sore throat.
TW gathered from ICIR that the doctor prescribed rest and medication but over the weekend, her condition worsened. “I had a fever, felt weak and my gums were badly inflamed,” said Astrid. She had her blood tested. The results were a complete shock: she was diagnosed with blood cancer.
For a cure, Astrid needs a blood stem cell transplant, a procedure that requires replacing her defective cells in her bone marrow by healthy ones from voluntary donors.
However, getting her genetic twin is difficult; say 1 out of 100,000 people, according to ICIR. But there are high chances that she can find donors from her country of origin.
Hence, Dana Air has joined in the search for voluntary donors of stem cells to save Astrid from the life-threatening illness.
Speaking on Dana Air’s call for donors, the Media and Communications Manager of Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa, said ”Project PINK BLUE, a cancer fighting non-governmental organization that we have been supporting for years now in partnership with Bone Marrow Registry Nigeria (BMRN) and The SunFlower Fund is organizing donor drive events across Nigeria and we are calling on Nigerians to help save Astrid by registering and signing up as donors.
”To stay alive, Astrid needs a matching stem cell donor and anyone who is healthy and between the 18-45 years old can help by registering as a potential stem donor by attending the donor drive taking place at: GIZ Office, 592 Idejo Street, Beside Development Bank, Victoria Island, Lagos. 11am-5pm, or visit www.help-astrid.com. The registration takes only a few minutes and doesn’t hurt or involve any cost implication.
“The search for her genetic twin is very difficult. The chance of finding this match is 1:100 000 and the best chance of a match is within your same ethnic background. There is only a 25% chance that a sibling will be a match. The remaining 75% chance depends on an unrelated matching donor being found,” Ezenwa said through a statement issued to aviation correspondents.
He added that Dana Air is living up to its broad corporate social responsibility (CSR), championing the course of supporting sickle cell and cancer awareness programs across Nigeria.
The airline has also been supporting one of the organizers of the events –Project PINK BLUE, in its drive to create awareness about cancer, and assist survivors across the country.
