A FOUR-year-old girl from Harlow has been honoured by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, at an awards ceremony held at the Tower of London.

Maddison Bradshaw was shortlisted for the Jack Petchey Young Hero of the Year Award at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2019, after she received a life-saving stem cell transplant from the charity when she was just 8-months-old.

The prestigious Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards were back for their seventh year to recognise the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers, and campaigners who help the pioneering blood cancer charity save lives.

This summer, Maddison took part in the British Transplant Games as part of Team Anthony Nolan and won a silver medal in the Beanbag Archery. The Games increase vital public awareness of the need for more people to join both the Anthony Nolan stem cell donor register and the NHS Organ Donation Register, which ultimately saved little Maddison’s life.

Maddison was born with congenital bone marrow failure, which stops the bone marrow producing new cells. At three months old, after her parents noticed bruising on her skin, she was rushed to hospital, where they were told she would need a bone marrow transplant. In July 2016, Maddie received a transplant, and is now a healthy and happy young girl who loves swimming, football, and trampolining.

Maddison’s mum, Ashleigh, said: “We treat the Transplant Games as a family occasion and we always have lots of fun cheering Maddison on at her “sports day”. Maddison has such fun doing all of the different sports, and the fact that she has won her bronze and silver medals in the Beanbag Archery two years running is a bonus we weren’t expecting- and Maddison was very, very excited to win!”

Maddison’s inspiring story has shown that a full and active life can be possible after transplant, and she approaches every event determined to have as much fun as possible.

Ashleigh added: “Maddison wouldn’t be here today without the work that Anthony Nolan do to find bone marrow and stem cell matches. We found that Maddison’s bone marrow had failed when she was almost 3 months old, and in just over 6 months we had found a donor, had the transplant, and were home starting to get our life back on track.

“We had no warning that Maddison had bone marrow failure when it happened, but with the help of Anthony Nolan, a 10/10 match was found for Maddison and we will be eternally thankful to our donor, who would like to remain anonymous, and of course to Anthony Nolan.”

Sir Jack Petchey CBE said “Jack Petchey Foundation works with Anthony Nolan to encourage young people to sign up to their life-saving register. We are therefore delighted to sponsor the John Petchey Young Hero of the Year Award, which recognises incredible young supporters who have made a difference to the lives of people with blood cancer.”

Henny Braund, Chief Executive at Anthony Nolan, said: ‘Congratulations to Maddison for being commended at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards. It was lovely to meet her and I continue to find myself inspired and humbled by the dedication and strength of supporters like her and her family.

‘By raising much needed awareness, we are curing blood cancer together. We can give families hope, and give more people a future. But without supporters like Maddison and her family, lives can’t be saved. Without them, there is no cure.’

The awards took place on Thursday 28 November at the Tower of London, and were hosted by comedian Nish Kumar.

Anthony Nolan is the charity that finds matching stem cell donors for people with blood cancer and blood disorders and gives them a second chance at life.

It also carries out ground-breaking research to save more lives and provide information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery.

To see the full shortlist, and find out more about the charity visit www.anthonynolan.org/awards