Only three per cent of stem-cell donors globally are mixed race and only 23 per cent are black, making it difficult for leukemia sufferers to access stem-cell donors in comparison to their Caucasian counterparts
Astrid, a 42-year-old woman with Nigerian and German parents suffering from leukemia or blood cancer, may die any moment from now over her inability to get a stem-cell donor for her treatment.
Only three per cent of stem-cell donors globally are mixed race and only 23 per cent are black, making it difficult for leukemia sufferers to access stem-cell donors in comparison to their Caucasian counterparts, who are 70 per cent guaranteed of a suitable donor.
In an interview with the BBC, Astrid whose father hails from Abia State said, “My father is from Abia State in Nigeria while my mother is from Bavaria, Germany.
“I had the feeling it was a joke, there’s no way its leukemia.
“Not being able to see my children grow up is unbearable to me.”
Astrid has now launched a global search for a donor to save her life as well as a global campaign urging black and bi-racial people to become stem-cell donors in order to save lives of mixed-race sufferers of the cancer.