Mum of Liverpool boy with leukaemia backs campaign to find more stem cell donors
The mother of a little boy from Liverpool who has leukaemia is backing a campaign to help get more people to register as stem cell donors.
Four-year-old Harry Winn was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in November 2022.
He is now in remission but will continue with chemotherapy treatment until December 2024.
His mum Vicky found out about his illness whilst seven months pregnant with his little brother Oscar.
She said: "Luckily Harry is in remission but other children aren't so fortunate and will need stem cell or bone marrow transplants.
"My aim is to get as many people on the register as possible, so if in the event Harry was ever to need one in the future, his perfect match could be there waiting for him."
Vicky is just one of a group of mums whose children have faced, or are facing leukaemia.
They organised the events to help encourage more people to join the donor register.
'Swab to Save a Child' events took place at 15 locations around the UK, including in West Derby in Liverpool where Vicky lives.
Setting up at a local supermarket, Vicky and a group of volunteers handed out swab kits and talked people through the process of registering.
She said: "There is a common misconception that siblings are usually good matches for bone marrow transplants, but in fact, there is just a 25% chance of a sibling being a suitable match, which is why we need to get more people on the bone marrow register.
"Our goal is to inspire communities to help - people can simply swing by, do a quick cheek swab in a Covid-style drive-through and possibly become a life-saving match."
The events were held in collaboration with the UK's largest stem cell registry DKMS.
The charity launched in the UK in 2013 and has registered over 950,000 blood stem cell donors to date and has helped to give thousands of people a second chance at life.
More than 2,000 people each year in the UK need a blood stem cell transplant, however, just 3% of the UK’s population are registered as potential donors.
To date, worldwide, DKMS has registered over 11 million potential blood stem cell donors, and over 100,000 second chances at life have been provided by them.
The organisation says that only a tiny proportion of these potential donors are from minority ethnic communities and that they are actively trying to raise awareness in different communities to try and find more potential donors.
Harry has just started in reception class at school. His family are hoping he will never need a stem cell donor, but there is a chance that he may do in the future.
They want to do everything they can to give him, and all others who need one, the best possible chance to find a match.
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