Steve Rothberg, an academic from Leicester, had a great job, played football, ran half marathons and enjoyed family life with his wife Gillian and two young daughters. Then last March he discovered he had acute myeloid leukaemia.
Four courses of chemotherapy failed to rid him of the disease and to survive he needed a bone marrow transplant. Doctors told him there was a one in 20,000 chance of finding a matching donor.
The Rothberg family and friends organised an Anthony Nolan Trust register recruitment drive at Loughborough University, where Mr Rothberg, 44, is dean of engineering. A Jewish donor in his 20s was found in the US, where a Jewish family ran a similar drive. If you are 18-14 and would like to join the register, all you need is a saliva test by post.
