In 1989 a group of families, all tragically touched by leukaemia, joined together to establish the Fight Cancer Foundation (formally Bone Marrow Donor Institute) with the intention to create an Australian bone marrow registry of people willing to donate their bone marrow or stem cells in the hope of finding a match for a patient who required a transplant.
At that time in Australia, patients who couldn’t find a match in their own family were forced to search for a donor overseas - which was extremely expensive, emotionally draining and without a guarantee of a match being located.
Today the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry has more than 180,000 names on it and has given more than 2000 people a second chance at life.
The Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry is linked to a worldwide network of registries.
For more information please visit the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry website.