Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Appeal for Ayesha.

Leukemia

I am Shmaila Siddiki. I am a doctor by profession. I work in UK. I know a doctor who is also working in UK. he has an adopted daughter, Ayesha, who is 8 years old. she is half Asian, half British. she has leukemia (bone marrow cancer). she is currently on chemotherapy.

She is need of a bone marrow transplant, which will be the cure of the disease. the best chance she has is with a donor of mixed race (Asian, middle east, north African mixed race with white British or American), a male between the age of 16-30yrs .

They are on the register of Anthony Nolan , which is a registered organization for bone marrow transplant. so far a million matches have been tried but non matched Ayesha's bone marrow type.

you can find this information on website 'ayesha's appeal' or just by typing ayesha's appeal on search engine. Her father is an oncologist himself, so he fully understand what lies ahead if ayesha doesn't find a bone marrow donor that matches her.

I got to know about this family through a work colleague. i wanted to get myself checked for a potential donor but i don't fit the criteria. i am trying my best to publicize it. i have approached mosque, gym, work place and relatives. since i visit Islamic answers website so much, it came to my mind and i thought if you would be of some help.

here are the links for the appeal.

uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Ayeshaappeal
www.aclt.org/index.php/appeals/showappeal/251

if you need any further information , please let me know. I am sure ayesha will be really grateful for this help.

please contact me at this email address;- ()

Jazakallahkhair,
shmaila siddiki


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12 Responses »

  1. May Allah hear your prayers for a bone marrow transplant for Ayesha and answer them...amin.

    Salam

  2. jazakallah khair for putting this post up.cant thank you enough.

    Anthony Nolan trust is a registered organisation in UK which maintians a register of donors for bone marrow tranplant.all one needs to do is to go to the website and register themselves ( a tick box form to fill in for selection criteria) , then a small pot will come through post to your address , you need to give a spit ( saliva)sample in the pot and send it back. this is all paid for. if you are a match then more tests will be carried out to check if you are an exact match. all of this is done in london and expenses are paid for.

    unfortunately ethinic minorities are not registered in huge numbers to these life saving trusts. hence a lot of difficulty people face finding a donor for any organ transplant or bone marrow transplant.

    As muslims it is our belief that shifa is only from Allah, but Allah has also shown us ways to seek this shifa. In Ayesha's case it is in finding a bone marrow match.

    a spit sample can save someones life! and saving one life is like saving the humanity.

    Jazakallah khair.your help will be much appreciated.

  3. In islam are we allowed to do like this? Sorry for my stupid question I just want to know and what will happen to the person who donate? Any side effect? I just want to. Know for my knowladge.

    • asalamalaikum Nadia,

      yes it is allowed in islam( sorry i dont have any hadeeth or quranic verses at hand) but for such kind of reasoning I always put forward this argument.....saving life is like saving humanity.
      if we are allowed to take haram ( like alcohol, eating dead animal etc) if its a situation of life and death, then life saving procedures like blood transfusion, organ donation or acceptance are also allowed.

      if you go to Anthony Nolan website ( bonemarrow transplant trust in UK) there is a very short yet comprehansive video on what to expect if you are the potential donor. in a nut shell some medication is given in the body so that its makes some special cells . these are then extracted from the body through a machine and then tranplanted into the patient. you may feel tired or feverish while having these cells are being produced by your body but it doesnot harm you in anyway.

      thank you for asking these questions it may benefit other readers as well.

  4. Assalam-Alaikum,

    Even though Ayesha is in UK, but I would suggest if possible her doctors should search the database at "Be The Match" Foundation in US.
    http://marrow.org/Home.aspx

    They have conducted sample collection with focus on different races. Given Ayesha's case I am hoping searching the database at BeTheMatch might help.

    regards,

    • salams concerned,

      thank you for your help. I will look into this and let Ayesha's family know about this.

      jazakallah khair .

  5. May Allah swt give her Shifa.

    You have said that her best chance is with a male of mixed race (I assume the race is asian and white? or north african and white or Arab and white.) Is this exclusive (as in are they only testing male half caucasian half arabs?)

    May Allah swt give her Shifa and reward you for forwarding this.
    Will remember her in my duas InshaAllah

    Sara
    IslamicAnswers,com Editor

    • The trust would be delighted to add any willing donor to their register. Even if someone sends in a sample and it isn't a match for Ayesha, it may be that they will be a match for another person in need.

      I pray that a donor can be found for Ayesha and that she recovers from her illness.

      Midnightmoon
      IslamicAnswers.com editor

      • thats true its not just for Ayesha. the pool of donors overall for all ethnic minorties is very small , hence the difficulty for finding a donor.

    • asalamalikum Sara.

      I confirmed this information from Ayesha's dad ( who is asian)

      Ayesha is mixed race-white/north african( morroco/algeria).

      Getting the perfect HLA tissue type is not entirely based on ethnicity.hence they have asked for asian, african,middle eastern and any mixed race.

      all ethnic groups are under represented on the register , hence more they are on the register the better the chance is for ayesha and many others.

      please spread the word as much as you can.

      jazakallah khair.

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