The story behind A Little Drop Of Strength

A Little Drop of Strength necklace will feature as lot 20 of the May 14th Jewellery auction. This pendant is being sold to support the DKMS mission to provide a matching donor to every blood cancer patient in need of a blood stem cell donor. Designer, social media influencer Sally Hurman created the solid silver, teardrop-shaped pendant due to her own very personal connection to the cause: Creating this necklace was a very personal labour of love! The shape was so important as it's a drop shape - that could mean many things to many people - it could be a raindrop or a teardrop - denoting that after the storm, new shoots of life, follow. And after the tears have fallen, how much better you feel after a good cry. Obviously, there is also a nod to the shape being similar to a drop of blood, which has a deeper meaning for many people who are affected by blood cancer.

Sally's story

5 years ago Sally's husband, Gav, was diagnosed with stage 4 incurable blood cancer.  Follicular Non Hodgkins Lymphoma to be precise. He has since had treatment and is now in remission. Sally is quick to point out and keen to explain to anyone newly diagnosed, that incurable doesn't necessarily mean terminal. The language around how blood cancer is diagnosed and explained to patients and their families is so important and she urges clinicians to explain the difference between terminal and incurable during diagnosis. During the time Gav was having treatment, Sally began to educate herself on blood cancers and the various treatment options and possible cures. She came across DKMS one of the UK stem cell registries and became fascinated with the fact that a complete stranger could have the same genetic makeup as a patient who was in need of a transplant, and could save that patient's life via a process similar to giving blood! If Gav relapsed and his blood cancer became resistant to treatment, his only chance of an actual cure and therefore survival would be via a stem cell transplant. Treatment alone will never cure some types of blood cancer. This is why a donor is so important and being on a register is a vital part of the chain. She began to learn about how a stem cell donation takes place and was really surprised to discover what a simple procedure it actually is. She figured if she thought it was a complicated, gory operation for the donor,  maybe she wasn't the only one with that assumption and figured it would be helpful to share the process and also to explain how easy it is to get on the register, to her followers on Instagram. She was soon noticed by DKMS and became an ambassador for them, a couple of years ago. They now work together whenever they can, to bring the charity and its amazing work, to the fore, using Sally's social media presence. She has run a 10k for them, and completed a skydive and has raised thousands of pounds along with recruiting thousands of people to get on the register. Through this, there have been at least 10 matches found which means at least 10 people with blood cancer were given the lifeline they so desperately needed. Later this year she will be abseiling down the Spinnaker in Portsmouth, to raise more money and awareness and the DKMS team will be on hand to simultaneously run a donor drive from their position safely on the ground at the Tower. She is passionate about educating people about the importance of being on the register, explaining the process, and talking about blood cancer in general so people know the symptoms and can verbalise their worries to their doctor if they have any concerns. You can follow Sally on Instagram on her website.  You can support DKMS in many ways including donating much-needed funds, as well as requesting a swab kit to register as a potential blood stem cell donor.