An Inverness woman has donated more than six million stem cells after being inspired to become a donor by young cancer patient Adeline Davidson.
Abby Maclennan travelled to King’s College Hospital in London after being confirmed as a potential match for a woman overseas.
She signed up for the Anthony Nolan register more than three years ago after being inspired by Adeline’s journey to find a bone marrow donor.
Earlier this month, the 23-year-old nursery teacher travelled south to undergo the procedure, donating six million stem cells over the course of two days.
‘I had a rollercoaster of emotions
Miss Maclennan, who works at Ankerville Nursery, Alness admits that finding out she was a match came as a shock.
She said: “You sign up to these things not really ever thinking that you are going to be contacted and then you are. I was happy about the fact that I could be potentially giving someone a second chance at life.
“I was at home and I got a phone call from Anthony Nolan to let me know I was a match and that I needed to go for further tests.
“You don’t realise it is actually such a big deal but when I went down to London, I had a rollercoaster of emotions.”
‘I feel proud’
Miss Maclennan underwent a series of blood tests before undergoing the procedure; donating six million cells over the course of 48 hours.
Explaining how the process worked, she said: “Basically you have got a cannula in both arms and you are hooked up to this machine. Your blood comes out of one of the thicker cannulas and it goes all the way around, through the tubes, and into the machine.
“The machine will spin every 20 minutes and it will separate the plasma and the stem cells from your blood.
“If you don’t get enough you have to come in for a second day to do another couple of hours, which I needed to do.
“The first day I managed to get 5.1million so I needed to go back a second day to do a couple more hours.”
Miss Maclennan said she is “proud” to have been able to help save a life.
The 23-year-old added: “I thought I would be in a room by myself but I was actually in a room with other patients with bone marrow cancer. It sunk in then that this is what I am doing it for, for people who are sick and are needing it.
“It gets me choked up just thinking about it, but I feel proud.”
She hopes her donation will inspire her 15-month-old son Luke Stewart to follow in her footsteps.
“Once he is only enough to understand, I will definitely be speaking to him about this and when he is 18, I will be encouraging him to sign up,” she added.
Young Adeline Davidson inspires donors to sign up
The nursery teacher says without Adeline Davidson and her family raising awareness of their journey, none of this would have been possible.
Five-year-old Adeline is living a happy and healthy life after receiving a bone marrow transplant in April 2021.
Miss Maclennan is encouraging fellow Highlanders to sign up and help save a life.
She added: “If it wasn’t for Addie, I wouldn’t have been on the register. I wouldn’t have even known about the register if it wasn’t for Adeline and her family raising so much awareness. Now, we want to carry on raising awareness so we can try and find Josie her donor as well.”
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