Bone marrow patients are in critical condition as they wait for ash cloud to shift

At least 16 people in the United Kingdom are in a critical condition as they wait for stem cell transplantations using cells from bone marrow donors abroad that have been held up because of the flight restrictions caused by the shutdown of a large part of European airspace. The patients include a toddler who is waiting for cells from a match in Canada.

The Anthony Nolan Trust, which finds matches for people who need lifesaving stem cell transplantations in the UK and abroad, says that it is doing “everything humanly possible” to get the transplants through alternative routes.

Henny Braund, chief executive of the trust, said, “We have cells sitting in North America while patients in the UK are being kept …