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APPEAL: Astrid, a mother-of-two, has brought her search for a donor to the UK (Image: Astrid)

A MOTHER from Germany who is in desperate need of a life-saving stem cell transplant has brought her search for a donor to London.

Astrid, a mother-of-two boys, has a particularly severe form of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). She was diagnosed with AML after she visited the doctor with a sore throat and after five rounds of chemotherapy, she was told that she needed a stem cell transplant to survive.

The 41-year-old, who is of Nigerian-German descent, has launched her bid to find a donor in London after struggling to find a match in Germany.

She told Metro: “Every day, every minute counts. The thought of not seeing my little boys grow up and not being able to be there for them and for my husband is unbearable to me.”

Astrid, her husband, Florian, and their two children have already had to deal with another life-changing medical emergency.

Having been injured in a bad road traffic accident in 2014, Florian is now in a wheelchair.

He told The Evening Standard: “Our children are doing quite well. They have already seen one parent in hospital for a year and continue with life, but we have not given them the full picture, that if there is not a good return to the campaign their mother may no longer be here.”

PICTURED: Astrid with her husband, Florian, and her two sons (Image: Astrid)

Mixed-heritage donors are significantly underrepresented on stem cell registers around the world. Fewer than three per cent of registered blood stem cell donors in Europe are from mixed heritage backgrounds, according to blood cancer charity DKMS.

Astrid is looking for a donor of mixed heritage with one parent from West Africa, ideally Nigeria and of Igbo descent, and another parent of European heritage.

There is a greater chance that an unrelated match can be found if the patient and donor share the same ethnic background.

To find out more about Astrid’s appeal, visit help-astrid.com.

For more information on becoming a stem cell donor and joining the donor register, visit aclt.org.

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