An urgent appeal has been launched for a stem cell donor for a 10-year-old Fife boy with a life-threatening blood disorder.
Jay Dalrymple developed aplastic anaemia after suffering from stomach aches and jaundice in November last year due to a hepatitis infection.
The Kirkcaldy youngster’s family have urged people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan register in the hope that they could be a match.
Their plea comes just months after four-year-old Ava Stark, of Lochgelly, received a bone marrow transplant following a high-profile hunt for a match.
Jay has to go to hospital twice a week for blood and platelet transfusions.
Unless he receives a transplant within 12 months he will need to go on to medication which carries the risk of him developing leukaemia.
His older sister Kerrie Stark has launched a social media campaign to spread the word about Jay’s appeal.
She said: “Jay’s just a 10-year-old boy, he was perfectly health until November and now, all of a sudden, he can’t do normal things like going to school or playing outside.
“If anybody was willing to sign up it would mean everything, it could save his life.
“It would mean everything to get him back.”
Jay’s mother Lynn McDuff thought he had a simple cold when his school rang one day last autumn to tell her he was feeling unwell.
But family life was turned upside down when they discovered it was something much more serious, an extremely rare disorder in which the body does not produce enough red blood cells.
Star Wars fan Jay spent Christmas in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh before he was diagnosed and has been unable to attend school since, as his low red blood count means he has little energy.
None of Jay’s three sisters and brother is a suitable donor and Jay’s best chance of a cure is a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor.
Jay’s family are raising funds for Anthony Nolan by holding an event at Kinglassie Miners Welfare Institute on May 13.
Funds are also being raised to help the family during his treatment and for a holiday when he recovers by Kinglassie woman Catherine Sala-Murray, whose Facebook page is Kats Mission.
Plea for donors
Amy Bartlett of the Anthony Nolan register said signing as a potential donor is straight-forward.
She said: “Joining the register couldn’t be easier.
“Just fill in your details on the Anthony Nolan website and we will send you a spit kit through the post to collect a saliva sample.
“If you’re lucky enough to be a match for someone, 90% of people will donate in a straightforward outpatient procedure similar to giving blood.”
The Anthony Nolan website is at www.anthonynolan.org.
