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Find Tan A Donor Tania Murphy needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life. This page is to encourage registration Thanks,
The FTAD team xx

Tania, an Australian mother of two, who urgently needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life. Tania was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in May 2016. Having completed her fourth round of intense chemotherapy, Tania is waiting to hear that the Australian Bone Marrow Registry has found a suitable bone marrow donor on the world-wide registry. Its likely Tania may not have found a donor because of her mixed ethnic heritage. Tania, like many, has a mixed heritage; her father is from the Balkans (Croatia) and her mother’s heritage is from the British Isles. Ethnicity is one of the main factors in bone marrow donor matching, but the world’s volunteer bone marrow donors do not currently reflect the ethnic diversity of the population with only 3% of donors on the worldwide registry identify as mixed-race. Because suitable bone marrow donors are most likely to be found in people with a close ethnic heritage, having more donors of mixed-race on the registry protects everyone. Please REGISTER, SHARE & HELP us by spreading this message and our campaign. For more details visit our website: https://www.findtanadonor.com

is an unfunded campaign run by volunteers, some are friends and some are just superstars who are touched by her situation. Please get in touch if you're interested in helping (we are always looking for volunteers!) or if you'd like to make a financial contribution (to pay for flyers, events, advertising etc).

** A little update from me ❤️ **It's been a big couple of months since I shared the news that my AML had returned, so I ...
14/10/2026

** A little update from me ❤️ **

It's been a big couple of months since I shared the news that my AML had returned, so I thought it was time to let you all know how things are going.

I was admitted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 17 August and started my first round of chemotherapy the following day. After a week in hospital, I moved to Leukaemia Village, where I've been staying while undergoing treatment.

The biggest challenge after that first round was getting my immune system to recover. My neutrophils (the white blood cells that help fight infection) dropped to just 0.02, which meant I basically had no immune system at all!

It took a long time for them to recover, which meant my second round of chemotherapy kept getting pushed back. Eventually, the doctors gave me a medication to help boost my white cells. I'd had an allergic reaction to it during my treatment in 2020, so we were a little nervous, but thankfully it worked beautifully this time with no reaction.

I started my second round of chemotherapy on 5 October and finished on Sunday 11 October.

**And now for some really positive news... I'm in remission!** Whilst it's an important milestone, I have the transplant ahead of me (I can't have the transplant unless I am in remission).

So while it's wonderful news, there's still a big road ahead of me.

I'm continuing to take a targeted chemotherapy tablet for my FLT3 mutation, and I'll have another bone marrow biopsy in early November to see how things are looking.

At this stage, we're hoping the transplant will happen around mid-November, but there are still lots of moving parts, so nothing is locked in just yet. We'll know more once I've had the biopsy and spoken with my medical team.

For now, I'm taking the good news, celebrating the progress and focusing on getting ready for the next big step.

In the meantime, I've been staying at Leukaemia Village with a wonderful rotation of family and friends keeping me company and looking after me. I need to have someone here with me in case of an emergency, so I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's been taking time out of their lives to help.

Kris has been holding down the fort at home with the kids and keeping work ticking along. Once it's time for my transplant, he'll come and stay here with me full-time.

And amongst all the medical appointments, blood tests and uncertainty, I've also been doing something really special for myself.

I've been completing my restorative yoga teacher training online from the Village, and it has been absolutely divine. It's been such a beautiful, deeply relaxing experience and something positive to focus on while all of this is happening. I've got one final weekend of training at the end of October, then I'll submit the theory and have another yoga qualification under my belt!

Kris and the kids have been visiting on weekends, and he's even planted a beautiful veggie garden here at the Village for us.

So that's where things are at for now.

Thank you to everyone who has been checking in, sending messages, thoughtful gifts, visiting and supporting us. It really does mean so much.

**The sun is shining. Life is good.** ☀️❤️

Love, Tan xx

Tania Soldo-Murphy

21/09/2026

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and today is World Marrow Donor Day.

Tan has recorded this video to explain why joining the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry is so important.

For someone living with blood cancer, a matching stem cell donor can offer the chance of life-saving treatment. Yet finding that match is not always easy, there are currently many people in Australia who don't have a donor match.

If you’re aged between 17 and 35, please take a few minutes to watch Tan’s video and consider joining the registry. You may one day be the match someone desperately needs.

You can order your cheek swab kit here here:
https://enrol.stemcelldonors.org.au/pre-enrol/?c=tlr

Or visit a lifeblood centre:
https://www.lifeblood.com.au/donor-centre

Please share this post, particularly with the young people in your life. The more people who join, the greater the chance of finding a match.

Tania Soldo-Murphy Leukaemia Foundation

19/08/2026

Last month, Tan celebrated six years since her ‘rebirth’ following her stem cell transplant. It was a milestone that meant so much to Tan, Kris, Tay, Kal and their family.

Devastatingly, we have news that Sarah and I were hoping we would never have to share.

Over the past few weeks, Tan has been having lots of tests. Blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, chimerism testing and more, as her medical team tried to understand what was happening.

Unfortunately, we now know that Tan’s Acute Myeloid Leukaemia has relapsed. It has been identified with a FLT3 mutation.

She is now in the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and treatment started yesterday.

As you can imagine, there is a lot for Tan and her family to process right now. For the moment, their focus is exactly where it needs to be: on Tan, her treatment and getting her through what comes next.

I know how many people love Tan, follow her work and will want to know how she is doing, so we’ll share updates here when we can.

For now, please keep her, Kris and the kids very firmly in your thoughts.

She has a fight ahead of her, but she also has an enormous amount of love around her. ❤️ Tan wanted to share with you the following letter that she wrote to herself after finding out about the relapse.

************************

Subject: A letter written for Tania (today) by Tania who went through transplant 2020

Dear Tan,

I’m here.

I’m sitting beside your bed, wrapping my arms around you, and I wish more than anything that I could take you out of this place. It breaks my heart seeing you here. I can see your batteries draining. I can see your life force being depleted by these four clinical walls, the fluorescent lights, the endless machines, the lack of fresh air, the lack of trees, the lack of sunshine and nature. This isn’t where you’re meant to live. Every part of me wants to rescue you from these horrible conditions.

I know how desperately you want to feel the breeze on your face again. To smell rain. To stand under a tree. To hear birds instead of beeping monitors.

I can’t take you out of here yet.

But I can be here with you.

I’m holding you while you cry. I’m listening to every fear that you don’t want to burden anyone else with. I’m sitting with you in the silence when you’re too exhausted to talk. I’m bringing you nourishing food, encouraging you one bite at a time, and reminding you that every mouthful is helping build your body back. I know eating hurts. I know it’s the last thing you feel like doing. But please…keep eating. As unfair as it feels, it’s one of the things that gets you out of here. Every bite is an act of hope, even when hope feels impossible.

Everyone keeps telling you that you’ll get through this.

I’m the only one who can tell you that you do.

Because I am you.

I know every awful day that still lies ahead. I know the pain, the exhaustion, the loneliness and the despair. I know there will be moments when you genuinely wonder whether you can keep going.

And I also know that you do.

You survive every single one of those days.

Not because you’re fearless.

Not because you’re always strong.

But because somehow, one breath at a time, you keep choosing the next moment.

I want to give you something that becomes a guide for the rest of our lives:

Rest. Meditate. Move. Repeat.

When your body needs rest, let it rest.

When your mind is racing, close your eyes and breathe.

When you can move—even just a little—move.

Then do it all again.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to keep you going.

Please, put yourself first.

Love yourself.

Stop worrying about everyone else for now. They will survive you taking care of yourself. Right now, your only job is to heal. You don’t need to make anyone comfortable. You don’t need to carry anyone else’s emotions. You don’t need to apologise for what your body needs.

You deserve every ounce of kindness you would so freely give someone else.

And can I tell you something?

I know this is fu**ed.

I can’t believe this is happening to you either.

I don’t know why you have to go through this.

I wish with all my heart that none of it had ever happened.

It isn’t fair.

It never was.

But I also need to say something that I hope reaches you.

Thank you.

Thank you for enduring every infusion, every needle, every nauseating meal, every sleepless night, every frightening result, every lonely moment, and every day you wanted to give up but didn’t.

Because of everything you are surviving right now…

I get to live.

I get to walk through forests and breathe fresh air.

I get to stand in nature and feel completely alive.

I get to eat beautiful food and actually enjoy it.

I get to love my family.

I get to dance.

I get to work helping people.

I get to wake up grateful simply because I’m alive.

I get to have my curly hair back.

I get to wear floaty dresses.

I get to laugh.

I get to dream.

I get to make plans.

I get to love this precious life.

None of that would have existed without you.

Everything I treasure today was paid for by your courage.

You probably can’t imagine that right now.

But I live it every day.

Thank you for carrying us through the hardest chapter of our lives.

Thank you for refusing to give up.

Thank you for choosing another bite, another breath, another sunrise.

I will spend the rest of our lives honouring what you endured.

I love you more deeply than words can ever express.

I’m not leaving your side.

And one day, when you finally step outside and feel fresh air on your face again, I’ll be there smiling, because I’ll know what that moment means.

With endless gratitude, compassion and love,

Tan x o

7.7.2016 → 7.7.2026Today marks 10 years of living.Ten years ago today, my life changed forever.I walked into the Tennyso...
07/07/2026

7.7.2016 → 7.7.2026

Today marks 10 years of living.

Ten years ago today, my life changed forever.

I walked into the Tennyson Centre for my appointment, my professor looked at me and said, "Head straight to the hospital." Within hours, I was diagnosed with AML leukaemia. And treatment began.

I don't usually celebrate the day I was diagnosed with cancer. Instead, I acknowledge it with a heart full of gratitude, because on that day, I truly didn't know if I would still be here 10 years later.

The months that followed were some of the hardest of my life. I spent five weeks in hospital, one week at home, then back into hospital again. This became my reality until the end of the year.

Then came another heartbreaking conversation.

I was told that without a bone marrow transplant, I would not survive. A worldwide search began, but no donor could be found.

Even writing those words today reminds me how precious this life is.

My beautiful friends, Sara and Jax, refused to give up hope. They created Find Tan A Donor on Facebook, spreading awareness and helping my story reach thousands of people. Their love and determination will always be one of the greatest gifts I've ever received.

Then in November 2019, I relapsed.

Still, there was no donor.

I made the difficult decision to refuse treatment because I believed it might be my last Christmas with my beautiful family, and that was where I wanted to be.

But life had other plans.

On 1 January 2020, I was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital Emergency Department and started chemotherapy immediately.

Then, in February, one of the most unforgettable moments of my life happened.

My haematologist walked into my room where Chris and I were and said the words we had dreamed of hearing for years...

"We've found you a perfect match."

To my incredible anonymous donor—my beautiful Turkish Stallion—there are simply no words big enough to express my gratitude. Because of your selfless gift, I am here. You gave me a future. I hope that one day I have the privilege of meeting you so I can thank you in person.

On 11 March 2020, I received my stem cell transplant.

Just one week later, Australia entered its first COVID lockdown. Soon after, overseas stem cells stopped coming into Australia. The timing of my transplant was nothing short of extraordinary, and it's another reminder that life can change in an instant.

Looking back over the past 10 years, there have been moments of fear, heartbreak, uncertainty and incredible courage.

But there has also been overwhelming love.

Love from my family, who never left my side.
Love from friends who carried me when I couldn't carry myself.
Love from an extraordinary medical team.
Love from complete strangers who became part of my journey.

And the greatest gift of all...
More time.

Today isn't about celebrating cancer.

It's about celebrating life.

It's about celebrating the ordinary moments we so often take for granted. Morning coffees. Belly laughs. Adventures. Sunsets. Hugs. Watching my family grow. Creating memories. Loving deeply. Living fully. Dancing.

These 10 years have taught me that life isn't promised, but every single day is a gift.

So today, I celebrate.

I celebrate being here.
I celebrate every person who has walked beside me.
I celebrate my donor.
I celebrate science, hope and miracles.
And most of all, I celebrate this beautiful, messy, precious life.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey over the past decade. You have loved me, supported me, prayed for me, encouraged me and celebrated every milestone with me.

My heart has never been fuller.

Here's to life.
Here's to gratitude.
And here's to making every single day count. ❤️ Tan x o

10 years of living... and I'm just getting started.

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