Cancer patient’s joy at meeting her life saving stem cell donor

Fri, 9 Dec 2011

A Scottish mother-of-three who had been fighting cancer for 10 years has met the stem cell donor who helped save her life, after discovering he only lived 70 miles away.

Sheena Stanbridge had undergone four cycles of chemotherapy, but with options running out, doctors contacted the Anthony Nolan Trust, a national charity which conducts worldwide searches for stem cell matches.

Doctors said the odds of finding a matching donor were low, and if found they were likely to be thousands of miles away on the other side of the world.

But remarkably Mark Quinn, who lives just 70 miles away, had stem cells which were a perfect match.

Following the treatment, Sheena was able to contact Mark by phone and arrange to meet up. the rest