A woman is desperately trying to find her estranged biological father who might be able to save her life with a transplant.
Sarah Langdale suffers with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) – where the body stops producing enough new blood cells.
While the 23-year-old’s condition has mostly been managed with medication, it’s recently got a lot worse. As a result, Sarah has to have blood and platelet transfusions every 28 days, and needs a bone marrow transplant.
With none of her family being a strong enough match, Sarah is now racing against time to find her biological father – or any half siblings that she might have.
All she knows about her dad is that he previously lived near her childhood home in Northampton, three decades ago.
Sarah, a barber from Rugby, says: ‘It’s quite something searching for your dad, and very emotional when doing so could save your life.
‘I’ll die without the transplant, but I know virtually nothing about my dad, and I’m relying on someone seeing my story and coming forward with information.
‘I can only live in hope.’
The search is particularly challenging as Sarah doesn’t share a father with any of her brothers and sisters, and her mum, Lorraine, doesn’t know anything about her biological dad.
Sarah’s half-sister Sophie and her mum both offer a 50% bone marrow match, but the barber is hoping for better chances with her dad.
Sarah was diagnosed with SAA aged two – but her symptoms have become worse during the pandemic.
Now bruises turn black if Sarah takes a small knock, and bleeding won’t stop if she has a cut or a period.
The 23-year-old also suffers with extreme fatigue and heart palpitations. What’s more, her current medications give her headaches and sickness, plus they affect her liver and kidneys.
Doctors at King’s College Hospital in London and Coventry and Warwick University Hospital have said the transplant would give her a ‘new normal.’
‘The transplant wouldn’t just save my life, it would give me normal energy levels,’ Sarah adds.
‘I don’t know what that feels like.
‘I’m young and I just want to go out and live my life, but I can’t. It’s really tough.’
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