A BLOOD cancer survivor is urging people in Harrow to join a donor event this Saturday.

Mita Shah, 48, of Kenton, is suffering from blood cancer and for many people like Mita a blood stem cell donation is their only chance of survival.

The charity Delete Blood Cancer is organising a donor recruitment event on Saturday, July 13, at Glebe Hall, Loretto Gardens, Kenton, from 10am to 3pm.

Mrs Shah said: “I am fortunate enough to have found a potential lifesaving donor, however around 50 per cent of people with a blood cancer such as leukaemia or lymphoma sadly never find the lifesaving match they need. Together we can increase their chances and their hope, by signing up. I’m proud to be working alongside Delete Blood Cancer UK to try to help to give someone else a second chance of life.”

The Mayor of Harrow will attend the event at noon.

Mita is a devoted wife, mother and friend who enjoys cooking and hosting parties, and is known for her incredible dessert recipes.

Anyone in good general health between the ages of 17-55 can register as a potential stem cell donor, or help with a monetary donation to cover the tissue analysis costs of recruiting potential donors.

Only 30 per cent of people find a matching donor for blood stem cell donation within their family, the other 70 per cent rely on the register of potential donors to find an unrelated donor.

Only four per cent of those on the register have the stem cells characteristics of someone of an Asian background.

Registration involves filling out a consent form and then using two cotton buds to gently collect cells from the insides of the cheeks, which are then sent to a laboratory for analysis to determine individual tissue characteristics.