Newry family celebrate son finding 'one in ten million' stem cell match after appeal

A Newry teenager, who was told he had a one in 10 million chance of finding a stem cell match, is preparing to head for surgery that could save his life.

Back in June of 2022, UTV ran an emotive appeal for donors from Daniel Greer's family, just after he was diagnosed with leukaemia. 

Now they family have had the news they were dreaming of - a donor match has been found.

"Winning the lottery doesn't even come close" said Paul Greer, Daniel's estatic father.

Daniel himself is just as happy, saying that "words cannot describe how much relief there was that we had a donor"

Daniel's brother James said he was "over the moon", and that after everything Daniel has been through, "it's just amazing to know we're on the right road that we need to be on and that we're making progress."

Next week the family will go to Bristol for what they hope will be a life saving transplant.

Mum, Dad and Daniel will be travelling over via the Air Ambulance in Belfast. He'll receive ten days of intensive chemo before having the transplant.

Despite the journey lying ahead of him, Daniel says he doesn't, "really have any fears"

"I'm just very hopeful that whenever I get this, after recovery that's me done and I'll just be able to go on and live a normal life."

Mum Anne Greer says that they family are trying to stay positive, and want to "keep laughing" through their journey.

Daniel faces months of recovery after the surgery and his family say they know many challenges lie ahead.

But they're determined that love and laughter will get them through.

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