Trade raises £14k for cancer charity at Publican Awards 2014 after Yaser Martini appeal

PubAid director and entrepreneur Yaser Martini’s 19-month-old daughter Margot was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia last year and needed a stem cell donor from someone with a similar tissue type as hers in order to survive.

Martini urged the industry to ‘Register. Swab. Save a life’ in a six-week appeal last year, during which time there were 50,000 requests for swab kits.

He made another appeal at the Publican Awards 2014 on Tuesday, calling for the industry to donate to Delete Blood Cancer as each swab kit costs the charity £40. Attendees raised £13,890, which will ensure that almost 350 new stem cell donors can be added to the register.

'Unprecedented' response​

Martini told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser​: “The public response to Margot's appeal was unprecedented: there were over 50,000 requests for swab kits during the six weeks of our appeal and as a result of Team Margot's collective efforts, statistically over the course of the next 10 years there are likely to be more than 500 people who will benefit from life-saving bone marrow transplants.

“The funds raised at the Publican Awards on Tuesday night will ensure that almost 350 new potential donors will be added to the register, which really is fantastic.”

Margot​

Martini added that a suitable match was found for Margot through the charity’s sister database in Germany and, as a result, blood tests have confirmed she is now 99% ‘disease free’.

“Today is day 35 post bone marrow transplant and fingers crossed Margot is now on the road to making a full recovery, having hopefully deleted her blood cancer,” Martini said during a speech at the awards.

“I’m so grateful to the PMA​ for all their support and also to the Licensed Trade Charity for agreeing to this fundraising for Delete Blood Cancer UK. If you were there and put your hand into your pocket, on behalf of Margot and all our family: thank you.”