Appeal to community for stem cell donor to save grandmother’s life
Urgent search to find life-saving help for Hilary Levinson, 62, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in September last year
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
A Leeds businessman, Adam Levinson, has embarked on an urgent campaign to find a stem cell donor to save the life of his mother, Hilary.
Mrs Levinson, 62, who is now retired, formerly worked as a dinner lady at the Leeds Brodetsky Jewish Primary School. She and her family are members of Street Lane Gardens Synagogue in Leeds, and live in the Alwoodly neighbourhood.
In September last year she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and has been told that she urgently requires new stem cells from someone with a matching tissue type.
Adam Levinson told the JN: “My mother was suffering from arthritis and went for a routine blood test. When that showed she had a lower than normal white blood cell count, she had a biopsy and was diagnosed with AML. She had one round of chemotherapy which seemed to work, but after a third round she was told that she would need a stem cell transplant.”
The family — father Ronnie, Adam and his brother Daniel — have made contact with the Anthony Nolan Trust which operates a national register for potential donors. Anthony Nolan officials have told the Levinsons that their best hope is likely to come from the Jewish community, particularly in the 18-30 age band.
Adam and his wife have recently had their first child, Jacob, and Adam is hoping that someone will come forward to be a match and save Hilary, the new grandmother. He said: “I hadn’t heard of Anthony Nolan or stem cell transplantation before my mum was diagnosed, so I realise how important it is to raise awareness.
“The Jewish community is such a close community — and I hope that people from all ethnic backgrounds, including Jewish people, will sign up to the register to help people like my mum”.
Anyone aged 16-30 and in good general health can join the Anthony Nolan register. It also costs £40 to recruit each potential donor to the register, so Anthony Nolan relies on financial support. To find about more about joining the Anthony Nolan register, or to find out more about the different ways you can support, visit anthonynolan.org/hope4hilary and share the campaign using #Hope4Hilary.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
