'My life changed completely': Cancer survivor in tribute to stem cell donor
A Walsall blood cancer survivor is joining others telling of their recovery in a new awareness campaign, that has seen them all photographed by world-renowned portrait photographer Rankin.
Sam Williams was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, an auto immune disease in which the body fails to produce blood cells in sufficient numbers and causes a deficiency of all blood cell types, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
The 23-year-old's life was saved by a stem cell transplant from a donor in Germany.
Now, as a part of Blood Cancer Awareness month, Sam is telling the story of his recovery and how he worked to thank his donor for the life-saving transplant.
Sam is one of six blood cancer survivors to be pictured by Rankin, alongside Joanna Calder, 50, from Hampshire, Holly Cross, 48, from Picotts End, Hertfordshire, Kathryn Cartwright, 28, from Sutton Coldfield, Anie Hu, 24, from Birmingham and Naa Yeye Ocquaye, 34, from London.
He has spoken about the journey from finding out there was a donor for him.
WATCH: Sam feature in the new campaign
He said: “It took six long weeks to find my donor. Every week I’d go back to the transplant clinic and the doctor would say 'we’ve still not found anybody'. I was convinced a donor would never be found. Even when the email popped up, with my name on it one day in clinic.
“It was incredibly overwhelming when the doctor showed me the email. It was just a couple of lines of text that said 'Mr Sam Williams. MDS patient. Donor found in Germany. A 45-year-old man. 9/10 match'.
“It was from that point that my life changed completely, really. I’ve no doubt that I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him.
"I wrote him a very short letter. No more than five or six sentences long. And it took me three days to write that. How do you put into words how grateful you are for an anonymous person saving your life?”
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan helped support Sam with his treatment and have worked alongside Rankin to produce the videos and photo galleries.
Henny Braund, Chief Executive at Anthony Nolan, spoke about the importance of stem cell transplants.
He said: “For someone with blood cancer, a stem cell transplant could be their last chance of survival and, every, day five people start their search for a matching stranger.
“We want to give every family the opportunity to say thank you. Nobody should hear there is no matching donor for them which is why, at Anthony Nolan, we’re working hard to grow the stem cell register, carry out groundbreaking research and provide the best post-transplant care to give families a future. But without support, lives can’t be saved.”
To find out more about how to support Anthony Nolan, and view the Silent Thank You films and image gallery, go to www.anthonynolan.org/thankyou.
