Birmingham father in desperate plea for bone marrow donor for ill son
A BIRMINGHAM family are in a desperate search for a Bone Marrow donor to help save the life of their critically ill son.
Two-year-old Guarav Bains urgently needs a bone marrow transplant before Christmas.
The youngster, from Tipton, was diagnosed with blood disorder Monosomy 7 in June and is likely to develop an aggressive form of childhood leukaemia. Doctors have told his family that his chances of survival will be increased if he has a bone marrow transplant before he develops leukaemia.
And in more heartbreaking news, doctors told the family neither his older sister, Kiran, 4, or parents Sunny and Gurprit were a bone marrow match.
It means the family are desperately searching the bone marrow register to try to find an unrelated match.
Dad Sunny said: “Finding out that Kiran is not a match for Guarav was really difficult news because it means that Guarav’s best chance of survival will be a bone marrow transplant from someone that we don’t know. We know that it is difficult to find matches for Asian patients because there is a lack of Asian donors on the bone marrow register. We have also been told that it will be best if Guarav has a transplant before Christmas, so we don’t have long to find that match.”
Sunny said finding out about his son’s condition was a shock to the family.
“On the day we found out that our son would need a bone marrow transplant to prevent him from developing leukaemia, we just couldn’t believe it,” he said.
“We were completely knocked for six. It’s something you just never think will happen to your child.”
Sunny is now appealing to the Asian community to join Anthony Nolan’s bone marrow register and become a lifesaver not only for Guarav but for countless others who are in need of a donor from the Asian community.
“We just hope that someone out there is a match for Guarav,” says Sunny.
“It would be amazing to find a matching donor for my son, but it’s not just about him. You could be a match for anyone out there in need of a bone marrow transplant.
“When we read that there was only around a 40% chance of finding a matching donor if you’re Asian, it really struck us. So many people don’t know how simple bone marrow donation is and how much it affects the Asian community. Without Asian donors, we might not be able to find a match for my son and for so many other people out there with blood disorders.”
Bhaveshree Chandegra, Anthony Nolan’s Asian Campaign Recruitment Manager, added: “Like most people in need of a bone marrow transplant, Guarav doesn’t have a match within his family and is relying on the bone marrow register to find a suitable donor. Many people don’t realise how easy it is to join the bone marrow register – it simply involves filling in a form and providing a saliva sample.
“Guarav’s story shows just how important it is that more people sign up as bone marrow donors. Many people don’t realise how easy it is to join the bone marrow register and how simple it is to donate – in most cases, the procedure is similar to giving blood.
“We urgently need more people from Asian backgrounds to become bone marrow donors as they are under-represented on the register which makes it more difficult to find matching donors for Asian patients with blood cancer.”
The Jaskomal Foundation, which works within the Asian community to raise awareness of the shortage of Asian donors, will hold an event in Smethwick, Birmingham later this month in the hope of finding a donor for Guarav.
For more information on the event log onto The Jaskomal Foundation Facebook Page www.facebook.com/Jaskomal Foundation
