Swabbed, Sealed, Delivered

Registering as a potential blood stem cell donor only takes a few minutes, yet only two percent of the UK are signed up.

Swabbed, Sealed, Delivered is a campaign aiming to encourage more people to sign up to the blood stem cell register. This campaign is being delivered by DKMS supporter Lisa in partnership with DKMS and PR agency DDA.

Here are some ways you can help:

• sharing a picture/video of yourself on your social media channels talking about the campaign and the urgent need for people to sign up to the stem cell register to help save a life.
• using the hashtag #SwabbedSealedDelivered
• signing up to the blood stem cell register by ordering a swab kit, and sharing a picture/video of yourself swabbing. Also, don’t forget to send your kit back to DKMS to complete your registration.

Lisa's Story

In 2016 Lisa was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and was told her best chance of survival was a blood stem cell transplant.

Fortunately, Lisa’s sister was the perfect match and was able to donate her stem cells and save Lisa’s life. She was lucky to find her perfect match within her own family - only 1 in 3 people find a matching donor within their family. Every year in the UK 2,000 people with blood cancer are searching for an unrelated donor. They rely on the kindness and generosity of a stranger to find their match.

Lisa knows how lucky she was and now supports DKMS to raise awareness and encourage others to get on the blood stem cell register.

Lisa comments on how the partnership with DDA came about:

“I was randomly sat next to their president at dinner and we talked about DKMS and the need to get more people on the blood stem cell register. Neil was really keen to help. He gave me his card and asked me to email him the next day. I was a little nervous as to whether a new day might not hold the same level of interest for him, but it turned out he was determined to help.”

“We had a couple of initial meetings but then Covid-19 put a stop to proceedings for a while. Now we are back with a fantastic campaign launching on 9th November 2020.”

Every 20 minutes, someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer. This diagnosis is devastating, and during the coronavirus outbreak, it is even more crucial that we do all we can to offer hope to people with blood cancer and blood disorders. We have seen the numbers of people joining the blood stem cell register decline drastically in recent times and now, more than ever before, we need you to sign up.