Magical Match

30/09/2025

I'm thrilled to be sharing another episode of Magical Match podcast.

September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month and in this episode, I chatted with Donor Recruitment Development Officer, Melissa Harvey from ACLT – The African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust. Melissa explained about her role within the organisation and talked through what Sickle Cell disorder is and how it affects those diagnosed with what has become the fastest growing inherited genetic condition in the UK.

We talked about the sorts of symptoms you might expect someone with sickle cell to be experiencing and the importance that education and awareness plays, enabling others to act quickly, should someone be experiencing pain and potentially a life-threatening sickle cell crisis.

We talked about ACLT’s short film, One Drop – parts 1 and 2, which you can find on YouTube and the importance of blood donation. You can watch it here: https://lnkd.in/era7cN9N - part one and here: https://lnkd.in/ekTYct_9 for part two.

We also talked about the possibility of a stem cell transplant being part of the treatment pathway for someone with sickle cell disorder.

I hope you enjoy the listen.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-yhxrm-197cc09

September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month and in this episode, I chatted with Donor Recruitment Development Officer, Melissa Harvey from ACLT – The African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust. Melissa explained about her role within the organisation and talked through what Sickle Cell disorder is and how it ...

23/09/2025

New episode is out now!!

https://magicalmatchpod.podbean.com/e/s3-ep8-natasha-reid-and-bronagh-hughes-from-dkms-chain-of-hope-the-big-cheekender/

Happy listening, folks and if you or someone you know has a stem cell story they'd like to share, please do get in touch.

In this episode I chatted with Donor Recruitment Manager and Lead Organiser of The Big Cheekender, Natasha Reid and PR and Media Officer, Bronagh Hughes from DKMS. We talked about their roles within the charity and their big event coming up on 27 and 28 September, the Big Cheekender! We also chatted...

11/07/2025

A brand new episode of Magical Match has just landed and you can listen here:

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-se3g9-1902649

In this episode I spoke with Andrew Foster about the stem cell journey and subsequent loss of his son, Rycroft at sixteen months, who had a rare inherited condition, called Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. At the time we recorded this, it was only nine months after Rycroft had died and as you might imagine, it’s an emotional and heartfelt discussion.

Andrew is a passionate campaigner for change and we talked about the importance of education and the opportunity to drive up the numbers of people of the stem cell register in the UK and beyond. For listeners who are coming to terms with loss or who are in early stages of grief, a great resource for those needing support is www.thegoodgrieftrust.org

You can find out more about Rycroft’s story at www.rycroftforever.com

In this episode I spoke with Andrew Foster about the stem cell journey and subsequent loss of his son, Rycroft at sixteen months, who had a rare inherited condition, called Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. At the time we recorded this, it was only nine months after Rycroft had died and as you might imagi...

05/10/2024

In this episode, I chatted with Beverley de Gale and Orin Lewis, parents of Daniel de Gale, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of six, back in 1993 and was the first black individual in the UK to receive a stem cell transplant six years later.

We talked about Daniel’s story and the difficulties they faced as a family in finding him a donor match and we chatted about the need for a diverse stem cell register and for people of all ethnicities to sign up if they can.

Our conversation took place earlier this summer and as Sickle Cell Awareness Month was in September, we also spoke about Sickle Cell Disorder and the impact that has on families needing urgent treatment.

Bev and Orin started the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust after realising that their son, Daniel’s chances of finding a donor match were one in a quarter of a million. The work the ACLT do is incredible. I hope you enjoy the listen.

You can find out more about the work the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust do and Daniel’s story at www.aclt.org

It is always such a huge privilege to be able to speak with my guests and share their stories. I hope you find this conversation both interesting and inspiring.

Thank you for listening. Please share far and wide.

https://magicalmatchpod.podbean.com/e/s3-ep3-beverley-de-gale-orin-lewis-from-the-african-caribbean-leukaemia-trust/

In this episode, I chatted with Beverley de Gale and Orin Lewis, parents of Daniel de Gale, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of six, back in 1993 and was the first black individual in the UK to receive a stem cell transplant six years later. We talked about Daniel’s ...

21/09/2024

Thrilled to be sharing a very special episode to celebrate . Please have a listen and share widely!

In this episode, I talked with Martine Schuit van Reissen again, from the World Marrow Donor Association, based in the Netherlands. I also spoke with Warren Fingrut, Assistant Haematologist and Professor in the Department of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy in the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas and Jeff and Susan Haertling from Marrow Mates in Florida. Jeff is a donor, himself and is Founder of Marrow Mates and Susan works as the Director of Genetic Genealogy and runs the EFDS Program.

We began the episode learning about the origins of World Marrow Donor Day and how it is celebrated. Warren then chatted about his work as a Haematologist and also the work he does with the Stem Cell Club, which he set up to raise awareness and recruit donors to the register. Jeff is a donor himself and told us about his personal and very moving donor story. His wife, Susan, then explained her work creating the Extending Family Donor Search initiative. Marrow Mates’ hopes to expand the diversity of existing donor registries to enable equal outcomes for all blood disease patients in need of a stem cell transplant.

I’m very grateful to my guests for their valuable insight and knowledge in the important topic of stem cell donation at the core of all they do. I hope you enjoy the World Marrow Donor Day celebrations and if you’re a donor, a heartfelt thank you on behalf of the families who you help. ❤️ 💛

Listen here: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-2uhgr-16dcf14

09/08/2024

S3. Ep1. Out Now! We hear from Martine Schuit van Reissen & Rhian Voskamp from the & discuss everything from education, cord blood, connecting the right people to the right organisations & their own stories, too. Please share & enjoy!

In this episode, I spoke with Martine Schuit van Reissen and Rhian Voskamp from the World Marrow Donor Association. We chatted about everything from the importance of education, the awareness around the need and use of cord blood in stem cell donation and reaching as many people as possible around t...

30/07/2024

For all bereaved families, I am celebrating Benjamin on his 17th birthday this year on 4 August with on X / Twitter as I did last year. If you'd like to join me in celebrating your own child(ren) lost to cancer, please post a photo of them and let's share in celebrating our children who lived! We love and miss them every day of our lives and the impact they made on us. Please make a note in the diary ###