(For more on his story please click here: www.SimplyHuman.org.au/successstories)

Ujwal, an international student who was diagnosed with leukaemia; was in desperate need of a bone marrow donor. The emotional and financial impact felt by Ujwal and also seen by us was nothing short of heartbreaking.

The other side which we saw was that whilst supporting Ujwal there was a massive need to offer support to his family and friends who were also greatly affected by his illness. We found a holistic approach was needed in order to truly offer support to everyone and not just the patient – though of course the patient was the primary focus.

We discovered a genuine lack of knowledge and awareness among a lot of people we spoke to. This we put down to possibly being because we only educate ourselves when something affects us first hand making us reactive and not proactive.

This is of course understandable but what we really need to do, and what we will do, is build awareness (particularly in Australians from an Asian or Sub-Continent background) to the point people feel compelled to join a database of bone marrow donors. This is where the charity’s goal of bringing the community together comes to the fore.

The Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR – http://www.abmdr.org.au/ ) houses information whereby people in need, such as Ujwal, can be paired with a suitable donor which in turn gives the chance for a life to be saved.