A Warwickshire hairdresser wants to find her father, as she hopes to save her life with a bone marrow transplant.
Sarah Langdale, 32 years old, has severe anaemia (SAA). This is a condition in which bone marrow, stem cells and blood cells don’t produce enough blood cells.
Her condition was initially manageable with medication. But, in 2019, her condition got worse and she has been steadily declining since.
Ms Langdale, a Rugby resident, now requires blood and platelet transfusions every 28-days. Doctors say she urgently needs a bone marrow donation before it gets worse.
Sarah Langdale is racing against the clock to find her father. She hopes that family members can donate marrow.
Sarah is pictured here with Lorraine, her mother. Lorraine says Sarah met the man near Northampton, where she grew up.
However, her family is not compatible and she is now trying find her father to see if he could be her half-sibling to donate marrow.
She does not know much except that he lived close to her Northampton home when she was three decades old.
Lorraine, Lorraine’s mother, met the man in 1988 near their family home. She is not certain of his identity.
Sarah, a barber, said: ‘It’s quite something searching for your dad, and very emotional when doing so could save your life.
‘It’s very difficult and overwhelming.
‘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 hope.”
Sarah was diagnosed with SAA at the age of two. However, her symptoms got worse due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Because her period was not expected to stop by March 2019, she was rushed to the hospital.
Sarah as a young girl. She was diagnosed with severe plastic anaemia aged two, but her symptoms worsened as a result of the coronavirus pandemic
Lorraine, Sarah’s mother, is pictured in the 1980s, when she met the Northampton hairdresser’s dad.
Sarah explained that bruises turn black when Sarah takes the smallest knock, and that bleeding doesn’t stop after a cut or period.
She receives three units blood every 28 days and is prescribed medication to stop her periods.
Sarah also experiences extreme fatigue and heart palpitations. She explained that her medications cause her headaches, sickness, depresses her immune system, and affects her liver and kidneys.
Sarah’s mum and one sibling have each given her a 50% bone marrow match. She hopes to have better luck with her father.
Sarah will need new medication if he doesn’t come forward.
If the medication doesn’t work, then Lorraine will resort to using mother Lorraine or a sibling to donate her organs – with a lower chance for survival.
Sarah says that doctors at King’s College Hospital in London, Coventry and Warwick Hospital told her the transplant would bring her a ‘new norm’.
They believe it would allow her live with all her previous treatments.
Sarah, who described herself as having ‘tanned skin’, does not share a biological father with any of her brothers and sisters John Langdale, 37, Sophie Lovatt, 35, Ben Bodek, 24, and Page Wright, 20.
She said that her mother doesn’t know anything about her biological dad.
A small chance exists that a parent might be a close match to their child. This can be used in much the same way as a matched sibling.
A brother or sister is more likely to be a match than a sibling – which is equivalent to a 25% chance.
Sarah said: ‘The transplant wouldn’t just save my life, it would give me normal energy levels.
‘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.’