Stem cell transplant patient sets walk goal for Anthony Nolan charity

Emily Land was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in October 2021

A cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has challenged herself to walk 10,000 steps a day for a month to raise money and help her recover.

Emily Land, 21, from Leeds, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2021, with the cancer returning despite intensive chemotherapy.

After a life-saving transplant following a donor match in December, she's building up her stamina again.

The Anthony Nolan charity said her funds will help increase donor numbers.

The disease, which is a cancer of the white blood cells, progresses quickly and aggressively and usually requires immediate treatment.

She developed sepsis three times and pneumonia twice during her initial treatment, with doctors advising her a stem cell transplant was her best chance of survival.

Ms Land is doing 10,000 steps a day for four weeks to raise money for the Anthony Nolan charity

"With the charity's help, my friends and family campaigned across the country to try find a stem cell match, and, in the end, I found a donor all the way over in the Netherlands," she said.

"The work that Anthony Nolan did is very much the reason I had a second chance at life, that's why I want to do as much as I can for them."

Following the transplant, she was unable to walk on her own, sometimes only being able to do three to five steps a day before becoming exhausted.

"For my recovery, my doctors said the best thing to do is try to be as active as possible," she said.

"Hopefully by doing this I can encourage more people to sign up to become potential life-savers for people like me."

About 2,400 people in the UK need a stem cell transplant a year, with Ms Land sharing her progress on social media in the hope of raising awareness of the charity's work.

Henny Braund, the charity's chief executive, said: "The funds that Emily raises will allow us to sign up more potential stem cell donors to the Anthony Nolan register, and any one of them could give a second chance at life to someone with blood cancer."