Newry boy's stem cell plea after cancer diagnosis
By UTV reporter Eden Wilson
The family of a 14-year-old boy from Newry have made a desperate appeal to the public to sign up to the stem cell register, as they fight to save their son's life.
Just four weeks ago Daniel Greer was a happy and healthy teenage boy. He loved mountain biking, rugby, sailing and scuba diving, as well as playing his trumpet.
But after complaints of a sore back, his parents took him to his GP who ran some blood tests.
Two days later, he was diagnosed with leukaemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer.
"We did have an initial shock to the system that it might be leukaemia, but to hear the actual words - heartbreaking," his father Paul told UTV.
"Daniel being Daniel, he takes it on the chin. He's always full of life and mischief, always has us laughing and joking, but he actually took it better than us."
This week, while recovering from his first round of chemotherapy, Daniel was given more bad news.
Doctors say that his only chance of survival is a stem cell transplant, however, the odds of finding a match are one in 10 million.
Daniel's brother James said: "It is rough to see him like that - going from such a strong lad, wouldn't let anything phase him, to barely able to walk to the bathroom.
"It is scary to see how he's gone downhill, he's lost 10% of his body weight in the two weeks that he's been there."
His family are now on a mission to get as many people to sign up to the register as possible, as they hope and pray for a match for their son.
Paul Greer continued: "There are donors already out there on the list, we're encouraging people to come forward.
"Lift your laptop, lift your phone and type in DKMS, sign up, it'll take less than a minute to put your name and your contact details on the website.
"You could literally save not only our Daniel's life but someone else's life on the planet today."
For help & support and to find out how to become a stem cell donor and what it involves: