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Miss Portsmouth is backing bid to find a donor for Jasmine
Beauty queen Charlotte Thomson has added her name to calls to help a baby in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.
When Charlotte, the current Miss Portsmouth, heard about the plight of little Jasmine Andrew, she immediately agreed to join the bone marrow donor register.
Charlotte, 23, of Fordingbridge Road, Eastney, said: 'If I can do anything to help I will.
'I recently joined the organ donor register. I just think if I don't need something and can help someone else, then why not? It would be selfish not to.
'It's such a shame that this poor little girl is so ill, and when people are ill and their lives are at risk, of course I'd want to do anything I can to help.
'It would be awful if something was to happen to this baby and you could have helped.
'If I was a match it would make me feel like I've done a really amazing thing.'
Charlotte is the latest in a line of people to support our campaign to find a bone marrow match for Jasmine, who is now four months old.
Jasmine was born with a rare immune-system deficiency which means she is extremely vulnerable to infections and viruses.
Unlike other children who will catch common, mild childhood illnesses, such as a cold, and will be able to fight them off, Jasmine is more susceptible to more serious illnesses, such as gastroenteritis which she was struck down with when she was just weeks old.
Her immune system is so weak that she cannot fight off infections like others, and so even now is still recovering from the bout of stomach flu.
At the moment she is spending her days in isolation at Great Ormond Street in London.
A bone marrow transplant is the only cure for her condition.
It will repair her immune system and help her to lead a normal life.
So with the help of the charity Anthony Nolan, we are holding a bone marrow donor register sign-up session on Tuesday, September 7. We are hoping as many people as possible will spare just half an hour of their time to come along to the event and see if they can help Jasmine.
And we would love to hear from groups of people, such as work colleagues and businesses, who are planning to attend.
Anyone who wants to try to help Jasmine should call (023) 9262 2169 or email rachel.hawthorn@thenews.co.uk.
HOW TO HELP
The bone marrow donor sign-up session will take place on Tuesday, September 7, in the small concert hall at the Guildhall in Portsmouth.
The session will run from 11am to 4pm and people can drop in at any time.
Signing up will take about half an hour. An Anthony Nolan volunteer will talk to you about registering and help you fill out a medical questionnaire. You will then be asked to give a saliva sample.
That sample will then be sent to a laboratory in London where staff will check what tissue type you are. You will then be put on the bone marrow donor register and contacted if you are a match.
To become a donor you need to be aged between 18 and 40. Once on the register, your details will be kept until you reach 60; you need to be in good health; and be committed to undergo the donation procedure if required.
If you cannot attend the sign up session you can still register by calling the Anthony Nolan charity on 0303 303 0303 or visiting anthonynolan.org
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Friday 10 February 2012
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