Anthony Nolan

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.