Chiswick Woman Calls for Sign-ups to Stem Cell Registry

Natasha Reid says that's what the stranger who saved her life did

Natasha was cured leukaemia thanks to a stem cell donation from Pete from Swindon

April 1, 2025

Natasha Reid has been around Chiswick over the last week leafleting people to sign up to the stem cell donor registration event this weekend at the Town Hall.

She lives in W4 and works as a Donor Recruitment Manager at the blood cancer charity, DKMS which is based nearby.

Her motivation is personal as she herself is a beneficiary of the stem cell register as a stranger who signed up for it saved her life.

For some people with blood cancer and blood disorders, a stem cell transplant is the only option to give them a second chance at life, and Natasha herself was one of those patients. Now, she is calling on the Chiswick community to attend the event this Sunday (6 April) at Chiswick Town Hall, from 11am-4pm.

“Chiswick is the community that I live and work in, and it would be so meaningful to see people come down on Sunday and join the stem cell register, and potentially save the lives of people like me”.

Through her work with DKMS, Natasha encourages more people to join the stem cell register, and works to ensure everyone who needs a stem cell transplant has equal access to one.

“I was just three months old when I was first diagnosed with two separate forms of leukaemia,” says Natasha. “I have very few memories of being ill, but it was absolutely devastating for my family. Being so young, it was a lot for my body to deal with. I had to go through several rounds of treatment, when I was first diagnosed, doctors weren’t sure I would survive the night. It was clear from early on, a stem cell transplant was the only option”.

Natasha now works in donor recruitment for the Chiswick based charity

Natasha, like two thirds of all patients in need of a transplant, was unable to find a match within her family, so a hunt began to find an unrelated donor who could save her life. Thankfully, that search was successful, and a man from Swindon stepped up to donate, and give Natasha a second chance at life. She finally went into remission when she was two and half years old.

“My donor is called Pete, and we recently met each other for the first time, 25 years after his donation. It was very emotional for us both, I had been so ill that Pete wasn’t actually sure that I had survived. He told me that he cried ‘tears of joy’ when he received his first letter from me.

“He was a total stranger, and thanks to his generosity, I got my childhood back, and I got to live a happy and healthy life. The stem cell donor registry has been part of my life ever since, and I have done everything I can to make sure that other patients get the second chance that I had. I have worked with patients and families up and down the country helping them to add potential donors to the register.

It’s so easy to join, just a few mouth swabs, and the DKMS team will be there on the day to help answer any questions you have”.

DKMS is especially calling for men, and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, who are underrepresented on the register.

If you're aged between 17-55 and in general good health, you can get registered.

For people diagnosed with blood cancer or a blood disorder, a stem cell transplant may be their only chance at survival.

Currently, 4 out of 10 patients won't find a match on the stem cell register but if more people sign up this can be changed.

For some patients, this is like finding a needle in a haystack which is why DKMS need as many people as possible to register as potential lifesavers.

If you are unable to make the event at the Town Hall you can start the process of joining the stem cell register online.