Bone marrow donor search matches women 15 miles apart

Kirsty and Taisha said when they met their connection was instant

After a global search, a woman found out the bone marrow donor who "saved her life" lived just 15 miles away.

Out of more than 40 million donors worldwide, Taisha Taylor, of Newbridge, Caerphilly county, found Kirsty Burnett was a near-perfect match.

Thanks to Kirsty's donation, Taisha was cured of a rare and life-threatening condition.

As part of World Marrow Donor Day, the pair are now urging people to sign up for the Welsh bone marrow register.

Taisha, 20, was born with a rare inherited immunodeficiency disorder called chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), leaving her body vulnerable to chronic inflammation and meaning simple infections could become life-threatening.

Her complications included mobility issues, arthritis, lupus and chronic fatigue - meaning she often needed a wheelchair.

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As a teenager, she loved caring for animals and dancing but had to give both up and even avoid sunlight as her condition worsened.

"When I'd wake up I'd have to go straight on the floor otherwise I couldn't walk, I'd have to stretch my back and everything because I was in so much pain," she said.

"I'd take endless tablets throughout the day and I pretty much sleepwalked through my entire life really."

Taisha (left) and Kirsty (right) now meet up regularly after the transplant

After a number of failed treatments, Taisha's last hope of recovery was by getting a bone marrow transplant.

Within months, she was told she had a match.

Kirsty, from Newport, had joined the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry during a blood donation session when she was 17.

She'd forgotten about signing up, until she heard she was a match for someone somewhere in the UK and decided to go ahead.

Thanks to Kirsty's donation, Taisha became one of the first women in the world to be cured of the condition.

Both women said they wanted to know the other, but donors and patients are anonymised to protect them.

Two years after the procedure, Kirsty and Taisha both gave consent to be put in contact.

Kirsty and Taisha got matching tattoos following the transplant

"I wanted to know her ASAP, mainly to say not just thank you, but I guess I thought it was gonna be that bond there as well," said Tasha.

Following a series of letters, Taisha and Kirsty swapped numbers - and realised they were living just 20 minutes apart.

They met for the first time in December 2021 and said their connection was instant.

"We just hugged basically. I think all we could keep saying when we sat down was 'wow this is crazy'," said Taisha.

"We sat down with food, I don't think we ate, we were just talking for hours".

During their first meeting, the pair even realised that Kirsty works with Taisha's sister's fiancé.

Taisha told Kirsty: "Anything I do is thanks to you"

The two women now meet up regularly, and even have matching tattoos.

Both decided to share their story to encourage other people to sign up to the bone marrow registry.

"You never know when you might need that or someone you love might need that, and you hope someone else would do it for them," said Kirsty.

"It's definitely the proudest thing I've ever done in my life and Taisha's amazing."

Taisha said Kirsty had "saved her life", adding: "She's the biggest part of my life, quite literally."

"Anything I do is thanks to you," she told Kirsty.

Christopher Harvey, head of the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry, said: "To put it simply, we need more young people to join our registry.

"Right now, three in 10 patients will not find the matched donor they desperately need, and that statistic rises to seven in 10 if you are from a black, Asian or ethnic minority background."

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