SHIRLEY Nolan died in 2002, 28 years after setting up a trust in honour of her son Anthony.
Anthony and his mother were from Thanet in Kent. He was born with Wiscott Aldrich syndrome, a rare bone marrow disease that left his immune system unable to fight infection.
Anthony underwent an unsuccessful transplant in 1974 aged two, and sadly died in 1979 because no suitable donor could be found to attempt another transplant.
At the time there was no list of willing donors among the general public.
Shirley vowed to help others in her situation and so founded the Anthony Nolan Trust, with the help of Westminster Children's Hospital consultant pathologist Dr David James who had treated her son.
They started tissue-typing donors and compiled a register which grew until today has become the biggest independent bone marrow list in the world with 345,000 potential donors.
Shirley received an OBE in the Millennium New Year's Honours list.
The Trust also funds research into bone marrow transplantation, gene therapy and tissue typing process.
It receives no Government funding and relies on the public for the £13m it needs every year to provide its services.
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