West End stars highlight need for more black donors

Sacha Gomez grew up in Hertfordshire and trained in musical theatre at the Urdang Academy in London

The organiser of a charity concert highlighting the need for more black blood and organ donors said she was amazed so many West End stars had agreed to appear.

Budding musical theatre performer Sacha Gomez, from Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, was 23 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer.

Her life was saved by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and a stem cell transplant - from a donor in Germany.

Now 24 and in remission, she is staging a show at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre to make "something positive out of a horrific situation".

Sacha Gomez said it was a "shock" to have been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia

The trained singer was at an audition for a West End show in March 2024 when she felt like she was getting a cold.

As she became more fatigued, she returned home.

Her parents took her to Watford General Hospital, where she was unable to walk without help.

She was transferred to University College London Hospitals, where she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells that causes tiredness, infections, weight loss and can be fatal if not treated by a stem cell transplant.

She had several rounds of intensive hospital treatment and at one point was on more than 40 tablets a day.

Because of her mixed heritage - her dad's father was Jamaican and her mother's parents were Spanish - doctors could not find a UK stem cell match.

Eventually, a German donor was found and she had a transplant in October 2024.

She had months of treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia

She said: "I was lucky enough to make it out the other side and I am determined to make it mean something.

"I want to make something positive out of a horrific situation and I want to use my experience and my story to raise awareness about the lack of donors from the black community in the UK."

She is staging a fundraiser for the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT).

A Night for ACLT is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre on Sunday 2 November at 19:30 GMT.

Several West End performers will be on stage: Billy Nevers, from Hamilton, Bella Brown, who was in Evita alongside Rachel Zegler, Claudia Kariuki, from Six and Olivia Lallo, from Mamma Mia!

Beverley De Gale OBE, ACLT's co-founder, said: "Sacha's story shines a powerful light on a devastating reality - there are still far too few blood, stem cell and organ donors of black heritage.

"ACLT's mission is to close these gaps by inspiring more people of African and Caribbean descent to join donor registers, give blood, and ultimately save lives."