24 Jun 2024
More than 500 people personally and a further 1,000 registered online to take part in a Swabbing Day in aid of a sick St Albans man.
As first revealed in the St Albans Times, Ben Collins’ family and friends organised a Swab Day at Old Verulamiums Rugby Club to help find him a bone marrow match.
Ben, 24, suffers from a rare blood cancer – acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – and without a stem cell match his prognosis is not good.
Sunday’s event proved a massive success – with St Albans Times editor Matt Adams among those giving a swab – but any confirmation of a match will have to wait.
Ben’s mum Katrina said afterwards: “It’s a weird thing to say ‘what an amazing day’ when your child has cancer. But what we all achieved was amazing. 542 swabs on the day and over 1,000 online – just incredible.
“Something that we started to get something positive out of Ben’s situation has spread at such an incredible rate and it is all down to my amazing volunteers – some of whom I had not met until the day. How do you thank them for not only trying to help save your son’s life but also all the other lives of the 2,000 people a year that need a donor.
“It’s impossible, and they have all said they do not need thanks and it is the least they can do. But I am going to say a massive thank you because what you have all given me, through your support and love, is courage and strength to go on. And this goes for the DKMS team as well.
“I was extremely nervous the day before the event and barely slept that night. With the reaction to the St Albans Times story, the radio, TV and social media campaign it could have gone two ways. Either nobody would have turned up because they had already registered online or we would have a huge uptake. And wow what an uptake!
“It was extremely emotional – seeing people I hadn’t seen for years, Ben’s friends, total strangers and a lot of people who had been through what we are going through. The tears did come but I definitely smiled through the whole day – it was so heart-warming and the sense of community we all felt was just amazing.
“It is a strange feeling to have a buzz and the adrenalin keeping you going for something so difficult to live with. We were in our little team Ben bubble and now we have huge support from all over the country. People are just amazing.
“We need to push this further. We need to get that 7% up and help those four in 10 people find a donor. Please keep sharing!”
If you were unable to make the Swab Day, you can register online at dkms.org.uk/register_ben and donate towards the registration costs for each donor.
