A former Worcester Rugby Football Club player is appealing for help to save his son’s life.
Sam Wilkes, a former Worcester first team player, is calling for people to sign up as bone marrow donors as his son Olcán battles a rare blood disorder.
Click here to find out how easy it is to register with the NHS
or below for the UK website for the world wide charity DKMS that is a NHS registed Partner.
Click here to see the UK DKMS website
The vision of DKMS is to fight blood cancer. That's why we are constantly working to convince as many people as possible to join the blood stem cell register.
Seven-year-old Olcán was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia in September after parents Sam and Genevieve noticed severe bruising over his body. A bone marrow transplant is the only known cure for the disorder and due to the severity of Olcán’s condition, doctors say any potential illness could prove fatal. The average death rate for those with the condition is 70% within a year.
To beat the life-threatening condition, Olcán’s family are appealing for members of the public to join the bone marrow register, a process that involves filling in an online form and returning a painless mouth swab
“Everybody that gives blood is making an enormous difference, too, watching Olcán go through multiple transfusions weekly. He’s just the most wonderful boy, who misses football, his friends and play fighting with his brother - and our abiding hope is that we can find a donor match in time.”
Click here to find out how easy it is to register with the NHS
or below for the UK website for the world wide charity DKMS that is a NHS registed Partner.
Click here to see the UK DKMS website
The vision of DKMS is to fight blood cancer. That's why we are constantly working to convince as many people as possible to join the blood stem cell register.
As he waits to find a match, Olcán undergoes two to three platelet transfusions a week and a blood transfusion every couple of weeks. He attends his old school in Ross on Wye remotely via a ‘robot’ from his new home in Antrim, Northern Ireland, or from his hospital bed.
Willing to do anything to keep their son alive, Olcán’s parents investigated the option of IVF so they could use a cord blood transfer from a selective embryo, a process that means having another baby might provide an identical bone marrow match for Olcán. But doctors say their son does not have nine months to wait
Click here to find out how easy it is to register with the NHS
or below for the UK website for the world wide charity DKMS that is a NHS registed Partner.
Click here to see the UK DKMS website
The vision of DKMS is to fight blood cancer. That's why we are constantly working to convince as many people as possible to join the blood stem cell register.
Images and text courtesy of Worcester News
