anthony nolan
London
Ever since Shirley Nolan founded our charity in 1974, Anthony's legacy has given
hope and a second chance of life to thousands of blood cancer and blood disorder
patients. Anthony Nolan is born with a rare blood disorder called
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. The only cure is a bone marrow transplant. None of his
family were a match, so the search for an unrelated matching donor begins. The
Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Register is established: the first of its kind. Today,
it’s helped 22,000 people receive a lifesaving transplant. Before this, finding
an unrelated stem cell donor was virtually impossible. Sadly, no match for
Anthony could be found. He died aged seven, in 1979.