West Midlands police officer's stem cell appeal for daughter

Det Sgt Sally Olsen said a transplant would change Izzie's life

A West Midlands police officer is urging more people to register to donate stem cells after her daughter was diagnosed with two blood disorders.

Det Sgt Sally Olsen said Izzie, 13, needs a transplant.

She has aplastic anaemia, where the body does not produce enough blood cells and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, where red blood cells are easily destroyed.

Finding a donor, she said, would "change Izzie's life".

Her daughter's diagnosis last June at the age of 12, Ms Olsen said, has turned her life "upside down".

"It was very, very sudden," she said

"Izzie is a really keen netball player and it was literally like one weekend she was playing netball and then the next weekend, she had developed this unexplainable large bruising."

Having the conditions means that Izzie is extremely vulnerable to infection, so has extremely limited contact with her friends and is home-schooled, having hospital appointments twice a week.

"There's no denying, these are life-threatening conditions, it's heartbreaking," Ms Olsen said.

"Finding a donor would literally change Izzie's life."

West Midlands Police Federation said a virtual donor drive is being held for police officers on 2 and 9 February, with an in-person drive to take place in March.

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