News pr: Don’t let Alice die in vain

It is with great sadness that dental technician Luke Barnett has to announce that his 21 year old niece Alice Byron passed away recently after losing her battle with MDS (Myelodysplastic syndrome) and blood cancer.

Luke said, “First of all, I would like to say thank you to the many of you who kindly signed up to the blood cancer registers late last year when we were raising awareness of Alice’s fight. It is such a tragedy for one so full of life and young to lose their fight. Alice even managed to complete her degree from her hospital bed gaining a 2:1 in English Literature.”

“What we need to ensure now is that Alice’s death isn’t in vain and that we encourage everyone we know in the family of dentistry to make sure that they and their friends, family and colleagues are all registered as donors. September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month (http://www.leukaemiacare.org.uk/news/support-us-this-blood-cancer-awareness-month ) so there is no better time to get the message out there.

For those lucky enough to be under 30, please visit www.anthonynolan.org/apply-join-bone-marrow-register and if you are aged 30-55 please visit www.deletebloodcancer.org.uk/en/register-now

“It will only take a couple of minutes – all that you need to do is to run a swab around your cheek and then send back in the envelope provided – and that’s it! The more people who are on the registers, means more chance of finding a match. The odds are that you will never be called upon, but if you are then you alone will have the opportunity to give someone else a second chance of life by donating some of your blood stem cells.”