Fife mum living in South Africa issues plea to Scots to save daughter living with rare blood disorder

A mother from Fife who now lives in South Africa is pleading for a lifesaving stem cell donor from Scotland to come forward, after her daughter was diagnosed with blood cancer.

Alba Overbeeke, 13, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) as a toddler but had recently completed a year in remission.

However, after suffering pain in her knees after karate lessons, which her doctors initially put down to ligament damage, it was found that the cancer had returned.

Medics have told Alba she needs a stem cell transplant to treat her condition, but she doesn’t have a matching donor in her family.

‘Holding onto hope’

Her mother, Esther Jacobs who is originally from Fife and later lived in Edinburgh, now lives in South Africa.

She is now working with blood cancer charity DKMS to encourage people from Scotland to register as donors and find her daughter a lifesaving match.

Esther said she is holding onto “hope” that someone could save her daughter’s life.

“For many people, stem cell donation feels like something that happens to someone else, until it doesn’t,” she said.

Alba was diagnosed with the condition as a child DKMS UK via Supplied

“I grew up in Scotland, and most of my family still lives in Scotland, so I know how generous the Scots are. It doesn’t get more extraordinary than giving someone the gift of life.

“The hope I have to keep holding onto is that somewhere in the world, there may already be someone who could save my daughter’s life… they just don’t know they’re needed yet.

“It costs nothing and only takes a few minutes. But for someone waiting for a stem cell transplant, it could mean everything.

Alba went to the doctors after pain in her knees Supplied

“Every person who joins the register could one day become the match for someone’s son, daughter, mum, dad, brother, or sister.

“Whether that patient is in Scotland, South Africa, or anywhere else in the world doesn’t matter. The register saves lives across borders.”

In the UK, everyone aged 16-55 and in good health can sign up to be stem cell donor.

Potential donors of stem cells use a registration kit to answer health questions, complete cheek swabs, and return them in the post.

If donors are selected, the donation can be completed through a non-surgical procedure.

DKMS spokesperson, Bronagh Hughes, said: “For patients like Alba, the right stranger joining the stem cell donor register could give them a second chance at life.

“The process is very simple it’s so easy to give a family like Esther’s their lives back. Joining the register only requires answering a few questions and a few simple and painless mouth swabs.

“It takes ten minutes of your time, but you could be the match which Alba, or someone else like her, is waiting for.”