“I wouldn’t have survived without the transfusions”

Before she received her first transfusion, Jasmine Barnett’s platelet count was one sixtieth what it should have been.

Jasmine had been training for the 2019 London Marathon and constantly feeling tired without seeing her times improve. After battling with ankle pains and an unshakeable bout of flu, things took a turn for the worse.

“I started to wake up most mornings drenched from night sweats and with a nosebleed. My gums were bleeding too,” says Jasmine, a mum of two. “I went to my GP and at 11am I had blood taken for testing. At 6pm, I got a call telling me I needed to get to hospital urgently.

“They told me a bed was waiting for me there. It was suspected leukaemia.”

Jasmine was given a platelet transfusion that same night. She was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia, a very rare and extremely aggressive blood cancer.

(Picture: Jasmine during treatment for acute promyelotic leukaemia)

With only around 200 cases diagnosed a year, acute promyelocytic leukaemia causes a surplus of immature white blood cells to grow. These cells get stuck in the bone marrow, stopping it from producing cells naturally. Until relatively recently, it was considered fatal.

People with acute promyelocytic leukaemia are at serious risk of brain haemorrhages. Platelet transfusions help to reduce that risk.

“It was awful, just so scary” says Jasmine, “I was an incredibly lucky 26-year-old with no family history of the disease apart from a grandparent who had a skin cancer.”

Jasmine went on to have four rounds of chemotherapy, during which she had 35 platelet transfusions, as well as 8 transfusions of red blood cells and 6 transfusions of plasma and cryoprecipitate.

“We tried to stay away from words like ‘blood cancer’ or ‘cancer’ with the children. We used to tell them I had poorly blood and when I was getting the transfusions, that it was good blood from kind people, replacing my rubbish blood.

“I did used to look at the bags and wonder where the blood had come from and who the donor was. I donated myself once, about a year before I was ill, and I loved the text saying where my blood had gone.

“I wouldn’t have survived without the transfusions, but in March 2024, I was able to say I was 5 years in remission.

“My last bone marrow biopsy was in January 2022 – I had 14 in total – and I only have blood tests every six months now. It’s a big difference from the several a day I had when I was first diagnosed.”

As well as sharing her story online, something she hopes will be a comfort to other people with acute promyelocytic leukaemia, Jasmine has been once again pounding the pavement and raising funds for cancer charities.

“I’m trying to do as much fundraising and awareness work as possible,” she says. “I’ve held several fundraisers so far. Then, last year, Blood Cancer UK created a Walk of Light, which is a walk for those affected by blood cancer.

“Unfortunately, it was in Birmingham and too far for me to go, so I organised a local Walk of Light and had over 90 participants, raising over £700.

“We then added to the total with this year’s Walk, raising another £550!

“I don’t know if I will ever do the London Marathon, but I will be able to see my two babies grow up, and that’s thanks to the generosity of blood and platelet donors.”

One platelet donation can help up to three adults like Jasmine or 12 children.

Platelets last just seven days after they’ve been donated, so we rely on people to donate regularly throughout the year.

To book an appointment to donate platelets, please call us on 0300 123 23 23.