17,200 signatures! I really can't thank you enough for all your support and comments - I know it means a lot to Ruby herself as well. There have been some really thought provoking comments as well. If we needed more motivation to try to register as many potential donors as possible and promote cord blood donation then it's there in the sheer number of comments about families touched by blood cancer. It's both inspiring and heart-breaking. This has been a huge week for Ruby and the campaign. We held a number of events over the weekend and registered over 170 adults via DKMS (www.dkms.org.uk to register quickly and easily yourself). These events targeted the Latin American community who are most likely to be a match for Ruby but it really could be anyone... and there are so many other people out there who need a donation. We also launched the Just Giving page (https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/team-ruby) in order to help us encourage more people to register but also to help Ruby and Sam at this difficult time. I've been stunned by people's genorousity - it really is humbling. However, this petition is about cord blood donation and I wanted to answer some questions about that. Firstly, the NHS offer cord donation at Barnet General Hospital, Northwick Park Hospital (in Harrow), Luton and Dunstable Hospital, Watford General Hospital, St George's Hospital and University College Hospital (where Ruby is being treated). Anthony Nolan offer cord donation at Leicester Royal Infirmay, Leicester General Hospital, St Mary's Hospital in Manchester and King's College Hospital, London. These hospitals were apparently chosen due to the diverse populations in these areas - which may explain how London-centric the list is. The following is taken from Anthony Nolan's own cord blood donation FAQ (link below): "Why is cord blood particularly useful? Stem cells for transplants can come from adults’ blood or bone marrow, as well as from cord blood. But cord blood transplants have lots of advantages. Getting adult donations is a long process. If we find someone a match on our register, we have to run tests on the potential donor, and it takes time to organise the donation and transplant. Cord blood is available immediately, for people in desperate need. Another benefit is that donors and recipients don’t need to be an exact match, as the stem cells in cord blood aren’t so mature and can develop to suit their recipient. That means it’s easier to find matches. How much cord blood do you collect? We’re aiming to grow our cord blood bank to 10,000 cord blood units by 2018. This will complement a UK public bank containing 30,000 cord units from both Anthony Nolan and the NHSBT Cord Blood Bank. A bank this size would mean 80% of people who need transplants could find a match. At the moment, only half get the match they so desperately need. Also, the NHS wouldn't have to import cord blood from overseas banks, which costs much more than getting cord blood in the UK." https://www.anthonynolan.org/8-ways-you-could-save-life/donate-your-umbilical-cord-blood/frequently-asked-questions.