The Big Match

JLife’s Elaine Bermitz recounts the help Alan Tomlinson received from the Anthony Nolan Foundation after he received a life-threatening diagnosis.

In 2009, Alan Tomlinson felt a lump in his neck which, upon examination turned out to be more than just a nuisance. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s disease, a malignant cancer for which he was going to need serious attention. He had to undergo an autologous stem cell transplant, a procedure which proved effective for a short time. However, a year later the lump returned and this time he needed a third-party donor. A search began, both in his family and friends and through the Anthony Nolan Foundation, who eventually found a match.

In December 2011 the transplant went ahead, and it worked, leaving him with no resistance to any external infection, so vulnerable that a common cold could have killed him. It took him two years to recover, during which time he was constantly monitored, and he also became curious as to who had been altruistic enough to save his life.

Under the Anthony Nolan Trust conditions, he was not allowed to get in touch with the donor for two years and then only by common consent. His donor, an orthodox Jewish man from North London, married with five children. They became friends and keep in touch: "Surprisingly, only 20% of people ever met their donors, but Sharon and I were very keen, even if only to thank him,” said Alan.

Now Alan wanted to repay the Trust by going into schools and talking to sixth formers about the donation process, trying to demystify it and to encourage more stem-cell donors: "We keep people on the register from when they first donate until they are 60, but the best donations come from men under 30, so it is important to get to schoolchildren and students," he said. Alan’s wife Sharon is also a donor supporter, which before the pandemic meant visiting them in hospital, but is now done by telephone and is designed to remind the donor of how big a help this can be. It is not named the Hero Project for nothing.

If my donor hadn’t taken the trouble to donate to me, I certainly wouldn’t be here today, so the least I can do is to help others. I have just an annual check a year and otherwise nothing bothers me thanks to the brilliant work of the Anthony Nolan Trust.”

In 2017, as the Nolan trust became more global, there was a requirement for couriers, who travelled throughout the UK and to other countries to bring back plasma and blood from sister organisations, for UK recipients. Worse still there were only four couriers in the north, so Alan trained for the job, which is entirely voluntary, and has since made around 60 trips to Germany, France, the USA, and other countries in order to collect donations on behalf of patients.

He is happy to do this and occasionally he hears that the transplant has been a success, which makes it all worthwhile.

"If my donor hadn't taken the trouble to donate to me, I certainly wouldn't be here today, so the least I can do is to help others. I have just an annual check a year and otherwise nothing bothers me thanks to the brilliant work of the Anthony Nolan Trust."

To donate please go to Anthonynolan. org.uk/donate