Category: Personal Stories
It was soon after the birth of her second child that Emma’s unusually high platelet count was noticed for the first time, and just 2 months later she was told she had Essential Thrombocythemia, usually diagnosed in people much older…
Previous Arrow Board member and volunteer, Pamela Neate, sadly passed away in July 2021. Pam was a true supporter of Arrow becoming involved with the organisation after her own son Greg was diagnosed with leukaemia and received a bone marrow…
Sophie and Hailey are identical twins and the best of friends. Both diagnosed with an inherited immune deficiency at three years of age, the girls have faced significant health challenges throughout their nine years of life. The biggest challenge of…
The inaugural meeting of what was then known as the Australian Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation (ABMTF) was held on 25 February 1987. Some 35 years later, we talk to one of Arrow’s founding members Barrie Beck, who underwent a bone…
Meet Luke Chapman, or Chappo, as he is better known by his mates. Luke had his life turned upside down in 2020 when he was diagnosed with leukaemia, going from diagnosis to treatment in just a matter of days. Being…
In September 2017, Roy Amos was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive blood cancer. A key part of his treatment was a bone marrow transplant which he received in February 2018. Roy says that today he is in a very…
Greg Bugden credits Arrow as being a “source of inspiration and assistance’ to he and his wife during her not one, but two bone marrow transplants. Greg shares his story here. It is now 24 years since my wife Karen…
“Care, warmth, and love” are three words that come to mind when young bone marrow transplant recipient Frank Li (pictured left) describes the sponsorship of Arrow’s grocery card initiative by Independent Grocers of Australia (IGA). And that is exactly what…
My brother, Marcus Shepherd, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in 1982 (age 32). He had his initial chemotherapy and went into remission in New Zealand, prior to further evaluation and consultation at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. Luckily, I…
When Michael Quigley, a retired telecommunications engineer and CEO of NBN Co. for its first four years, re-joined the Arrow board – it was to take on a new challenge. After a successful 35-year career in the global telecommunications industry…