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Penelope Cruz joins bone marrow campaign

By Carla Bevan on Tuesday 23 December 2008

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Penelope Cruz, celebrity news, Marie Claire

Penelope Cruz has leant her famous face to the UK's bone marrow donor register campaign.

The Hollywood star met eight-year-old leukaemia sufferer Joe Cawse, who has been waiting for a suitable bone marrow donor for three years, recently after chatting to one of the Anthony Nolan Trust's national bone marrow campaign couriers on a flight from Madrid to London.

She said she was moved by the charity's work and wanted to try and help them any way she could, including meeting with Joe to try and raise the public's awareness of his plight.

'He's a sunny and intelligent eight-year-old but is battling with leukaemia as I speak,' she told reporters.

'One suitable donor could save his life.

'I was very surprised to discover there are two different ways to donate your bone marrow and the second way is a much easier, less invasive process than I had ever imagined.

'If only more people in the UK knew that there is a method of donating bone marrow that is simple and pain free.'

His mother, Sheriden, added: 'We were told that a bone marrow transplant was Joe's only option, but a donor hasn't been found yet.

'Joe's prognosis was two years, but that was three years ago so we've beaten that.

'Joe was so excited about meeting Penelope Cruz - she was really warm and friendly and seemed to understand the issues facing families like us.'

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT BECOMING A BONE MARROW DONOR HERE