Alice Hanagan

Alice, from Melton Mowbray, was just 34 when she passed away from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a form of blood cancer.

Alice had been suffering from vague symptoms such as tiredness, bruising and repeated bouts of tonsillitis. Although her consultant expected nothing sinister, a bone marrow biopsy was conducted. It confirmed AML in her bones; that was Friday 13 December 2019.

Almost immediately she began chemotherapy treatment, lasting six months, over the course of the first coronavirus lockdown. During this time her sisters were tested to see if they were possible matches to be a blood stem cell donor for her, but unfortunately, they were found not to be.

A year later, following a routine six-month check-up, Alice was told that sadly she had relapsed.

In early 2021 she learnt that she would need a stem cell transplant in order to recover. Doctors started trying to get Alice into remission in preparation for a transplant. During this time, her sisters were preparing to have the tests done again in the hope that more advanced treatment would allow them to be her match. Meanwhile, the search for an unrelated donor on the global stem cell registry continued.

Together with DKMS, Alice worked to raise awareness of blood cancers and disorders and to increase the number of donors on the blood stem cell register. Sadly, Alice ran out of time to find her match. She stopped responding to treatment and became too unwell to receive a transplant.

Alice passed away on New Year’s Day 2022.

You can help more people with blood cancer who don’t have the luxury of time, like Alice, to find their matching donors and have a potentially lifesaving treatment. Join the stem cell registry by clicking ‘Become a Donor’ now, or sponsor her friends and family as they take on Nottingham 10K in her memory by clicking ‘Contribute Today'.