Emily went into the hospital on December 8 and received her transplant on December 16 and 17. We were just trying to get as many people as possible to sign up.'Īnthony Nolan is the charity that makes lifesaving connections between people with blood cancer and incredible strangers ready to donate their stem cells. 'We were at Leeds train station every Saturday getting people signed up, we went to Elland Road (football stadium) and stood outside colleges. A lot of my friends took it upon themselves to go everywhere and get people signed up. 'We just thought that we would get people signed up ourselves. We knew that we needed a match, but we had no idea how Anthony Nolan worked or anything like that. In November 2022 Kirstie got the call to say that they had found a match and that the transplant would take place in December that year.

There is a lot of trauma - this is something a lot of people my age haven't been through.'Įmily having her hair shaved off by her boyfriend Ryan Hammill (Image: Kirstie Plenderleith/SWNS)Įmily was waiting for a transplant for three months before her mum got a call in November 2022, telling her that they had found a match in the Netherlands.

Now I am cancer-free, I am going to counselling to overcome what I have been through. When I got told I had relapsed it was worse because I didn't know what to expect with the transplant. I didn't take anything from that whole time. 'It was different for my mum, she knew the severity of the situation.

It was a case of being shown a room and saying 'here is your room for the night you are staying in'.

Emily was placed on the Anthony Nolan transplant register and three months later was told they found a match from a stranger in the Netherlands.Įmily, a student, said: 'I was in shock when I was told I had cancer, I didn't realise what I was being told. In August 2022 Emily was told her leukaemia had returned and she would have to have a bone marrow transplant. After seeing her GP, Emily was sent to hospital in October 2021, for a blood test and later that day was told she had leukaemia.Īfter four rounds of chemotherapy, Emily, 21, was given the all-clear in July 2022 - but just six weeks later she relapsed. Emily Land was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia - cancer of the white blood cells - after she started finding bruises across her body.

The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith