A series of coincidences led Liverpudlian Andy Mitchell to donate stem cells and his choice would not only mean changing his recipient’s life but also changing Andy’s life.
In 2004 his wife was due to give birth to their first child and the names they had chosen were Ella and Sam. One evening, they picked up the Liverpool Echo to see a headline asking, “Can YOU save Ella and Sam?”, a young brother and sister, from nearby Southport, needed lifesaving stem cell transplants urgently to survive.
Andy immediately registered to become a donor in the hope of helping both Ella and Sam, but also to help any other person looking for a match. In 2011 he received an anonymous ‘thank you’ card from his recipient, Paul, a huge Chelsea fan from London.
Andy, a lifelong Evertonian, did not hesitate in 2020 when he read about the young son of Everton legend, Gary Stevens, who needed to find a matching stem cell donor to help cure his leukaemia. So he set up Blues Against Blood Cancer in the hope of inspiring as many football fans as possible, to register as potential donors.
Originally founded to reach out to Evertonians, Blues Against Blood Cancer is still a vehicle to reach out, to educate and encourage people to join the stem cell register.
