Dozens of celebrities have offered their support for a Jewish family who has just a month to find a bone marrow donor to save their mother’s life after her leukaemia returned.
Stars such as Birtney Spears, Sharon Osbourne, Bear Grylls, and Jeremy Kyle have all shared the #Spit4Mum campaign online to help Sharon Berger.
Britney Spears tweeted, “A British mum with leukemia needs a stem cell donor. RT, register, say a prayer, and save a life @GiftofLife @DKMS_uk #Spit4Mum”
Berger’s daughter Caroline said: ‘We’ve been incredibly moved by the global support from celebrities on social media. Now I hope we can turn those tweets into sign-ups to help save my mum’s life from blood cancer. We are incredibly grateful that people in the public eye are putting the weight of their social media presence behind our #Spit4Mum campaign and using their celebrity status for the greater good.”
Sharon Berger, 65, of London was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in 2012, and was told that the only available cure was a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor.
A global search was launched – dubbed the #Spit4Mum campaign – and a matching donor was found within weeks which meant Berger had an apparently successful transplant in May 2013.
But last week a routine blood test revealed that despite a successful transplant, the aggressive nature of her illness means the cancer has returned. Doctors have now told the family that Berger has just six weeks before she needs a second transplant.
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan is now searching the world’s combined stem cell registries for someone whose tissue type matches Berger’s. But the search could prove difficult because of Berger’s combination of rare tissue types.
Because of Berger’s Jewish heritage, her best match is likely to be an Ashkenazi Jew. But the family is encouraging everyone who is eligible to join the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow register, as a potential match.
A recent study found that of patients who receive a second transplant, one in three survived for at least another five years.
“This means that if we can find Mum another match in the next month, there is a good chance that she will have a second chance at life post-transplant,” said Berger’s son Jonni.
Ann O’Leary, Head of register and development at Anthony Nolan, said: “We would urge anyone who hasn’t joined up yet to consider doing so – it’s straightforward and could help save the life of someone like Sharon.
“To join up you must be aged 16-30, in good health and weigh at least 50kg. We are particularly looking for people from Jewish and other ethnic minority backgrounds to join, as they are currently underrepresented on the donor register.”
To register as a stem cell donor in the U.S or Israel visit www.giftoflife.org.
To register to donate stem cells visit www.bmdw.org.