Are you a blood stem cell donor looking to update your details or contact us? 
It doesn’t
hurt to
save a life
How donations really work.
How donations really work.
What’s involved with being a donor
To register you’ll just have to meet some basic eligibility requirements and provide a sample via cheek swab.
If you match with someone you can help, you’ll either donate peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) or bone marrow.
Donating PBSC is similar to giving blood and is done at experienced hospitals, in major cities around Australia, as an outpatient procedure.
If you donate bone marrow it will be taken from the back of your hip in a short procedure performed under general anaesthetic, so you won’t feel a thing!
The different ways to donate
It doesn’t hurt to help. Bone marrow and stem cell donation methods have evolved since the 1940’s. Find out what it’s really like to donate here:
Age isn’t just a number
When it comes to bone marrow and blood stem cell donations, physicians prefer donors 18 to 35 years old because research shows that patients do better with younger donors. Gender is also important as physicians tend to select males over females to avoid logistical issues that may arise if a donor is pregnant or breastfeeding. Males are often larger than females and are able to donate more stem cells which is also better for patients.
If you want to see the stats to back it up, click here.
The background on blood cancer
Blood cancer is an umbrella term for cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow and lymphatic system. In most blood cancers, normal blood cell development is interrupted by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal blood cells. The abnormal blood cells can prevent blood from fighting off an infection or preventing uncontrolled bleeding.
There are three main types of blood cancers:
Leukaemia
cancer that is found in your blood and bone marrow.
Lymphoma
blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system.
Myeloma
blood cancer that specifically targets your plasma cells.
Transplants are also used to treat patients with certain immune system and genetic disorders.
Unfortunately, blood cancer can strike any one of us at any time.
More resources
The 100 Days
Tasmanian artist and recovered blood patient Tony Thorpe has created a story about his experience during and after his blood stem cell transplant recipient journey.
If you would like to read his story, click here.