Comment: Adrian Sudbury’s courage can inspire us all

May 22 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

Adrian Sudbury meets Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the House of Commons _320

ADRIAN SUDBURY is a truly remarkable individual – a young man who is facing an appalling set of circumstances with dignity, humour and a seemingly bottomless well of courage.

For Adrian has leukaemia. In fact, as his now-famous Baldy’s Blog explains, he has two distinct types of the disease running at the same time, and is thought to be the only person in the world with this condition.

A potentially-life saving bone marrow transplant proved unsuccessful and he has now made the heart-rending decision not to proceed with further gruelling treatment, as there is no guarantee it will work.

Adrian has just weeks to live, yet he is spending that precious, short time trying to help others.

The 26-year-old, whose frail health must surely mean he would be more comfortable at home, spent yesterday with the Prime Minister as part of his campaign to raise the number of British bone marrow donors.

For Adrian, a bone marrow transplant offered vital hope; even though his was unsuccessful there are many others who go on to recover and lead full lives as a result of an anonymous donor. Southport brother and sister Ella and Sam Wright are among those whose lives might be saved by a bone marrow donor.

The Anthony Nolan Trust says thousands of Merseysiders have signed the donor register in recent years but far more are needed.

Many people have an ingrained belief that donating bone marrow is painful and debilitating; advances in modern medicine mean they are basing their decision not to become a donor on out- dated anecdotal evidence.

If you are still unsure about donating bone marrow, please log on to http://baldyblog.freshblogs.co.uk/  and read Adrian’s own blog posts.

His courage and humanity shine through – and his words alone are enough to make you realise just what an unbelievably wonderful thing your life is – and what an unbelievable wonderful thing it would be to save someone else’s.