THE family of a Cheshunt mum of two diagnosed with blood cancer have launched a campaign to recruit more potential bone marrow donors.
Letife Cavusoglu, 49, an NHS worker with a Turkish-Cypriot background, needs a bone marrow transplant but there is a desperate shortage of donors from ethnic minority communities.
Her family are now travelling around the country to sign up people to the charity-run Anthony Nolan register in a bid to potentially save her life.
Letife was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in October 2013, shortly after returning from a family holiday in Northern Cyprus.
“Mum had been feeling a bit tired on holiday but had no other symptoms apart from that, at the time,” remembered Mustafa, Letife’s 25-year-old son, who works with his father Halil in textiles.
“When she came back, she wasn’t feeling herself and we thought she’d caught a bad cold, but soon we realised it was a lot worse than that.”
When her condition worsened, the family were worried she might be anaemic.
But after going for tests at Chase Farm Hospital, Letife’s husband Halil, 54, and their two children, Mustafa and Hale, 19, were shocked by the news that Letife had a form of blood cancer.
“She was feeling tired, it was a shock for her as you expect to have more symptoms,” Mustafa said.
“The diagnosis was totally unexpected, we just collapsed.”
Letife is now at the end of her second phase of chemotherapy at the Royal Free Hospital in London and has now been told that she will need a bone marrow transplant.
Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.
The family is appealing for more donors to join the register, especially those from ethnic minority communities.
Mustafa said: “The earlier we find a match for mum, the better her chances. But we also want to make it easier for other people from mixed ethnicities to find a donor in the future, so we really need the community to pull together and potentially do something amazing, both for others and for our mum.”
Helped by the Turkish Embassy, the family are running events in London and Kent, where there are large Turkish communities, for people to join the register.
“We have been telling friends and family, giving out forms,” Mustafa added.
“We also want to make it known to the community out there, especially Turkish, Greek and Cypriots, to register on the website.”
Ann O’Leary, head of register development at Anthony Nolan said: “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.
“We urgently need more young men and people from minority ethnic communities to sign up as they are under-represented on the register.”
People aged 16 to 30 years old can join the register online at www.anthonynolan.org.
The sign-up events will be held at the Blackfen School for Girls in Sidcup, Kent on Saturday February 8 from 10am to noon, and the Hornsea School for Girls in north London from noon to 2pm on Sunday February 9.