Emily Land donor appeal: Joy for Leeds family as medics confirm a match has been found

Emily Land’s best chance of beating the disease is to undergo a transplant and her family were distraught when none of them proved to be a suitable match. The Yorkshire Evening Post shared their story in September as they began a huge campaign to encourage new donors to come forward in the hope that one of them could help to save her life.

The 21-year-old had first been diagnosed with leukaemia in October 2021. She was given the all-clear in July last year, only to learn weeks later that the disease had returned and she would need a bone marrow transplant.

Now medics have confirmed that a suitable match has been found in the Netherlands and the date for the transplant has been set after a “whirlwind” few days for Emily and her loved ones.

Her mum, Kirstie Plenderleith, said: “I’ve got all sorts of emotions. I’m absolutely elated and so please we’ve got this donor, but I’m so scared as well because it’s a long journey ahead.”

The family’s #JoinforEmily appeal urged people aged 30 and under to sign up to Anthony Nolan’s stem cell donor register, with drop-in testing sessions and awareness events held at locations including Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium.

Kirstie, who lives in Oulton, had been hosting a session at Wakefield College to get students signing up when the call came from the hospital. She said: “It’s been a whirlwind. We feel totally overwhelmed. We’ve been doing all these events at the station every Saturday and the local colleges and then it’s a donor from the Netherlands.

"They phoned us on Wednesday just to give us a heads up to say, ‘We may be getting you in quickly, we’ll know more when you come into clinic on Friday’.”

Emily will have an initial operation to prepare for her next stage of treatment on Monday and a further clinic appointment in early December, before she goes into isolation with her mum at the hospital on December 8. The transplant itself is due to take place on December 16 but the pair will be in hospital for as long as eight weeks before continuing their 100 days of isolation at home.

Sharing the good news on Facebook, she wrote: “I have a donor! I am so so grateful for everyone who shared and signed up to the register, you have the chance to save someone’s life!"

Kirstie said “knowing that everyone is with us” meant a huge amount to the family, adding: “I never expected this when I said to my friends that we need a donor. We can’t thank everyone enough. All the people that have signed up will save hundreds of lives. They’ll be a match for someone else."

She said the family would take things one day at a time as there was a long way to go yet but this was the news that they had all hoped for. “This is hopefully to give Emily the rest of her life back and she can start planning things,” she said.

Visit anthonynolan.org to find out more about signing up to the stem cell register.