One of our supporters Matt, also lovingly known as “Biff” has driven the initiative of “The 20-50”! He is helping us raise awareness on stem cell donation and the need to bring back cheek swab testing in Australia. Biff is running 50km per day for 20 days to raise awareness on stem cell donation and in honour of his Mum who is alive today because of her stem cell donor!

Why the numbers 20-50? 50 people per day are diagnosed with blood cancer in Australia. Australia needs 20,000 people per year to join the stem cell donor registry, this is so patients with blood cancer and other blood disease who require a stem cell transplant can find their lifesaving stem cell match, this is often their only chance for a cure.

Unfortunately Australia’s donor pool is shrinking and we need the government to fund cheek swab testing to make it easier for people to join & save more lives! To learn more visit the Advocacy page.

Biff, we wish you the best of luck as you embark on this incredible challenge!

A note from Biff:

We can do better for people suffering with blood cancer and other diseases who require a bone marrow transplant. Currently the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (AMBDR) is shrinking, and we are the only registry in the developed world that is.

We require 20,000 donors to sign up every year to meet demand in Australia, we currently have around 6,000 people join. Our shrinking donor registry has made us more reliant on overseas donors which has complications that have been heightened by the Pandemic.

I learned about this when I tried to join to do my part after my family was affected by Leukemia. Finding out how to and then becoming a donor was not the easiest process.

These issues mean we have a small domestic pool of donors. This is particularly problematic for people of diverse ethnic backgrounds and indigenous Australians.

Waiting for a donor can be a rollercoaster ride as I saw through family experience. Donors can be found and then not an option due to many reasons. With most donors based overseas this adds complexity and confusion. The donor that ended up giving in my family's case was from the USA and we will be forever grateful to them.

The good news is that there is a fix for this. Cheek Swabs! Through the AMBDR Strength to Give campaign.

Cheek swabs are a cheaper, easier, and less invasive test to allow donors to easily join the AMBDR.

Cheek swabs are currently awaiting approval by multiple levels of Government in Australia. They have been waiting on approval for many years!

To raise awareness for this and get Cheek Swabs approved I will be undertaking a challenge I have dubbed the 20 50.

In Australia we require 20,000 donors per year to meet our requirements. Every day 50 people are diagnosed with blood cancer these people will often require a bone marrow transplant.

So I will be doing 20 x 50km runs. As we need 20k for the 50 per day.

I will be running from March 11 to 31 finishing at Willinda Park in Greensborough home of my athletics club.

I invite anyone who wants to run with me to join please send me a message @biffrunner and we can arrange for this to happen (modified kms and days are welcome to suit different fitness levels).

To raise awareness and put pressure on Governments I request people to give some of their time, I want your 20 mins more than your $20 to send letters, download the letter templates here

Thanks to everyone for your support.

- Matt “Biff” Thompson