Its a sad fact that illnesses such as Leukaemia never get a great deal of press coverage unless it affects a well known public figure.
Last week Aston Villa player Stan Petrov was diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia and simply Googling either his name or the word " Leukaemia" will return hundreds of web pages of info relating to his battle against his newly diagnosed illness. But why does it only seem to be that when stars such as Stan are affected that the media sit up and take notice? What about the thousands of other "normal" people, many of them children, who are, and have been fighting their own battles for many years,....why don't the press appear to hold their lives in such high esteem.... are they less valuable than Stan? Less news worthy?
This post is not against Stan, far from it, i wish him the very best of luck in his battle. This post is aimed squarely at the media who only appear to give a damn...or space in their papers, to the subject of illnesses such as Leukaemia if it is deemed to sell their product.
How much exposure have they given recently to the ongoing search for new bone marrow donors by the Anthony Nolan charity? How much backing have they given to Sir Ian Botham and Geoff Thomas in their support of the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research charity? Yet they pick up a story such as Stans and milk it simply to make money for themselves....how hollow and pointless is that?
Papers reach millions and they have the power to influence many into action.....yet how many so far have encouraged people to sign up to become bone marrow donors? how many have suggested fans make a donation to fund research into Leukaemia Research? THAT is the point that the media is not making, and for Stan and many thousands like him, that literally could be the difference between life and death.
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