Stem cell donor found for teenager with cancer

A stem cell donor has been found for a 16-year-old boy with leukaemia whose family organised drives for more people to sign up to transplant registers.

Leo, 16, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, will be admitted for a transplant in mid-January after the anonymous donor was found.

He had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a form of blood cancer, and it was found none of his relatives were a match, which meant he needed an unrelated donor from the register.

His family worked with blood cancer charity DKMS to get more people on to the stem cell donor register with more than 700 people signing up at an event in his hometown.

His mother Jenna said the family had been "blessed" with the fantastic news just before Christmas and added that Leo had also achieved remission.

"We are so incredibly thankful for everyone who is on, or has registered with DKMS to join the stem cell register – you are literally saving lives," she said.

Leo will have further tests before he is admitted and will be isolated for up to six weeks to prepare for the transplant, as well as having chemotherapy.

"It's such good news, though it's also brought some chaos," his mother said.

"We have so many appointments to attend and tests to be done before the new year.

"We aren't over the line yet, but we are feeling incredibly positive, and extremely blessed."

She said she would be by Leo's side throughout, which meant she would stay in hospital with him.

The teenager, who loves gaming and virtual reality, had begun studying electrical engineering at college when he received the diagnosis this year.

He had been feeling tired but started to get unusually large bruises, and after tests he was admitted to Birmingham Children's Hospital where he was diagnosed

His family and DKMS organised the event in Bromsgrove last month.

DKMS spokesperson Bronagh Hughes said there were about 2,000 blood cancer patients in the UK still waiting to find their stem cell donor match.

She said people could sign up to the register by ordering a free swab kit from the DKMS website.

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