I signed up to the bone marrow donation register at a drive at my university. Although I always intended to go through with the donation if I ever matched for somebody, I can’t say I believed that I would hear anything more of it. I actually remember one of my medic friends at the sign up saying that they didn’t want to sign up as they were scared of the bone marrow harvest procedure (I guess the thought of being ‘harvested’ is never that appealing), to which I responded with a shrug, confident that I would never actually be asked to donate.

Four years later, I received a call from Anthony Nolan, and after a few blood tests, it was confirmed that I was a match for somebody. It is true that this is very unlikely: for those on the Anthony Nolan register, only 1 in 790 are ever asked to donate. On top of this, the bone marrow harvest of which so many people are scared, is only actually used in 10% of cases. Most of the time, the less invasive ‘peripheral’ method is used. This is where, after a series of injections to promote stem cell production, donors are hooked up to a machine which filters out the newly created stem cells, before the filtered blood is returned to the donor. Those who have donated this way often liken the procedure to a long blood donation session.

I wasn’t one of those 90% however, and my match needed bone marrow. I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t a bit scared beforehand, and I think this is a pretty natural response, but I would do it agin in a heartbeat. When I spoke to people about my upcoming donation, I was astounded by the number of people I knew who had been affected by blood cancer, whose friends or relatives had received transplants, or even who had needed one themselves.

But enough about that – my intention in writing this is certainly not to blow my own trumpet. What I want to do is encourage people to sign up to the register, and to debunk the myths that seem so prevalent around bone marrow donation. One of the first things people said when I told them I was going to be donating was ‘oooh isn’t that where they stick a big needle in you and suck out your marrow?’ I heard about how the procedure was featured on an episode of the tv show House and its really painful… not the most comforting response to say the least. Donation is a commitment, sure, but after hearing the horror stories, the whole procedure seemed like a breeze.

For starters, as I said above, bone marrow donation itself is actually a pretty unusual way to donate – most of the time the procedure is done via peripheral donation which is more like a 5 hour blood donation. The stem cell promoting injections that are needed a few days before hand can also apparently cause ‘bone pain’ – now sure that doesn’t sound ideal but its not the excruciating torture that seems to spring to mind when most people picture stem cell donation.

Although, in principle, bone marrow donation is where they stick a big needle in your pelvis and suck out your bone marrow, I was under general anaesthetic at the time and didn’t feel a thing. Even after I came around, it was sore certainly, but nothing like the stories i’d heard, and the hospital staff were lovely, professional and supportive. After the first day, I didn’t need anything more than good ol’ paracetamol for pain relief, and the scars were not nearly as impressive as I’d hoped they would be: just two small dots on the small of my back.

Making my donation even easier was the support I got from my employer, Oxford PharmaGenesis, and Anthony Nolan themselves. I was allowed the time off to donate and recover with no hassle and on full pay, and PharmaGenesis didn’t even ask for the wage reimbursement offered by Anthony Nolan, which made me very proud to be part of a company that stands by its principles. Anthony Nolan looked after me every step of the way too – booking my train tickets and tickets for my partner to come down and be with me for the donation. In short: donating was very easy.

Beyond all that though, what is important is the recipients. What kept running through my mind the entire time was how in awe I was of the people on the other side of the transplant. After finding out I was a match I started researching the diseases that led to people needing the donations, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this but blood cancer is really really horrible. Looking at the stories of so many people battling such cruel diseases quite quickly puts the donation procedure in perspective and I’m sure you’d be surprised at how many people you know who have been affected.

Because finding  match is so rare it is very important for as many people as possible to sign up: you aren’t likely to be a match, but neither is anyone else, so as many people need to be on the register as possible. Of the 72 people diagnosed with blood cancer in the UK every day, 70% can’t find a match in their immediate family and need a donor from the bone marrow registry. Matches are difficult to come by, at present only 60% of people can find the best possible match through the register, and for people from minority ethnic backgrounds, the likelihood of finding a match drops to just 20%.

Donating bone marrow was one of the best things i’ve ever done: it genuinely makes you feel differently, and think differently, about the people around you. On a more fundamental level, it’s just quite a cool thing to think about. If the transplant is successful, my recipient will share my blood type for the rest of their life, which is something I find quite cool – a little connection with someone I may never know.

So, if you’ve not got this message already: sign up! There are a few different registers, each with different eligibility criteria, Anthony Nolan and DKMS being two major ones in the UK so if you can’t join one, do check out the others! By donating marrow you could literally save someone’s life, and give hope to someone and their loved ones who are in a horrible situation. So sign up, do your good deed for the day, I promise you won’t regret it.