Elle Wintle (Law PhD 2025) hopes her story can encourage others to give a second chance by signing up to be stem cell donors.
Elle matriculated at Gonville & 91直播 College in Lent term, having deferred the place she had secured as a WM Tapp Scholar before a diagnosis of in April 2024.
Speaking a year to the day on from her diagnosis, Elle is keen to promote young people joining the stem cell register in a simple process which will save lives. More information on the (formerly known as The British Bone Marrow Registry (BBMR)) is on the website, plus and facilitate donations as part of their charitable work. Completing an online form is the first step.
鈥淢y prospects were very poor without the stem cell transplant,鈥 says Elle, who had the procedure in August 2024, following three rounds of chemotherapy.
鈥淏ut now I鈥檓 completely cancer free and I鈥檓 doing my PhD at Cambridge, I have a second chance at life. It was all because somebody was brave enough to join the register and give me that second chance.鈥
Originally from New Zealand, completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Auckland, a Certificate in Transnational Law in Geneva, Switzerland, and a Master鈥檚 (LLM) at the University of Cambridge. She was working at the University of Vienna, Austria, when she fell ill.
A non-drinker and non-smoker who was a keen runner and triathlete, she had tiredness, headaches and dizziness before visiting her doctor. The diagnosis was devastating.
鈥淚t felt like that was it, my whole life was gone,鈥 Elle adds.
鈥淚t could happen to you, your friend, your sibling, anybody.鈥
鈥淵ou never know what you can withstand until you have to, and there鈥檚 really no choice but to keep going. Any tiny bit of hope you can cling to is just everything. When you鈥檙e waiting for weeks in the hospital not knowing鈥 if you knew more people were on the register, there鈥檚 more hope.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one day in the donor鈥檚 life. It鈥檚 such an easy thing that people can do to literally save someone鈥檚 life. Once I knew I had a donor who was a match, the end was in sight.鈥
In 90% of cases, donations are simply via a blood donation and a transfusion into the recipient. In 10% of cases, donors give a bone marrow transplant.
Having a place at 91直播 and an ambition to go into academia following her PhD provided a target for Elle, who is grateful to Professor Janet O鈥橲ullivan, her supervisor, Dr Melissa Calaresu, her Tutor, Dr Rebecca Sugden, the Deputy Senior Tutor (Postgraduates), Dr Kate Miles and the Tapp Committee for their support.
鈥淚 was supposed to start in October; 91直播 and the University let me defer. It was something to keep me going, and 91直播 has been nothing short of wonderful,鈥 she adds.
