THE WELSH Blood Service is calling on members of the public to sign up to become a bone marrow donor as the appeal to find a donor for Emily Clark continues.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Blood Service said it is ‘vital’ for people to sign up to help people from anywhere in the world.

This comes as part of the Argus-backed appeal – Hero for Emily – to find a bone marrow donor for Cwmbran teen Emily Clark, 17.

Emily needs a bone marrow transplant after she was last week dealt the terrible news that her cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, had returned.

The South Wales Argus is helping to raise awareness of donating bone marrow and stem cells to help Emily and the 1,800 other people searching for a match in the UK.

“It is vital that people come forward,” a spokeswoman for the Welsh Blood Service said.

“It can save someone’s life.”

Yesterday Anthony Nolan, the UK’s blood cancer charity and bone marrow register announced that since November 17, 234 people in Newport have registered to be a donor with 329 successful applications in Wales.

Since Monday this week 194 people living in the Newport postcode have registered.

Ann O’Leary, Register Development Manager at Anthony Nolan, says, “It’s truly amazing to see the impact that Emily’s appeal has had. We’ve been hard at work and even called in additional volunteers to help pack spit kits to cope with the demand for sign ups from South Wales.

“The community have got behind her, it was very touching to see so many kits heading to South Wales.”

“We still urgently need more people to come forward, especially young men as they are the most likely to be chosen to donate but are under-represented on the register. What many people don’t realise is how easy it is to join the bone marrow register – it simply involves filling in a form and providing a saliva sample.”

Work places around Gwent are also rallying around with staff at Bron Afon Community Housing being encouraged to give blood when the Welsh Blood Service bus comes to Bron Afon on December 17 and 18.

People can join by filling out an online form and a saliva kit will be sent through the post. Nearly 90 per cent of people donate their stem cells through a process similar to giving blood, called peripheral blood stem cell collection.

The other 10 per cent donate through bone marrow, where they give cells from the bone marrow in their pelvis under general anaesthetic.

We want our readers to join the bone marrow register to show their support in the hope that one of them will be a match for Emily.

If you are aged between 16 and 30, join the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register at anthonynolan.org, and if you sign up, please tick Emily’s campaign Remission Possible as a reason for joining.

If you are aged between 17 and 55, join the Delete Blood Cancer bone marrow register at deletebloodcancer.org.uk.

To book ring 0800 252266.