Campaign to help find a donor for Gaurav

 

Gaurav Trinity Leeds transplant 2If you have been into the city centre recently you might have seen this advert on the Albion Street Boots site.

It is part of a nationwide campaign to find a bone marrow donor for a little boy called Gaurav Bains, from Tipton in the West Midlands.

According to Gaurav’s parents, not enough people of Asian origin are registered as bone marrow donors. Without a transplant, Gaurav is in danger of developing an aggressive form of childhood leukaemia. He has a rare condition called Monosomy 7.

Richard Malton, marketing director at Ocean Outdoor, the company behind the campaign said:

“The more donors who volunteer, the better the chances of finding a match for Gaurav and other people who need a transplant. This is a race against time for Gaurav because there is a critical shortage of donors of Asian or non white origin.”

Back in March we ran a story about South Leeds Community Radio running adverts in Asian languages to encourage people of South Asian heritage to join the transplant register.

Organ transplants save lives, but it can be a very difficult decision for the families of people who have died at the time of great distress. Making the decision now to go on the Organ Donor Register can make that decision much easier for your family should you die.

A quarter (25%) of people currently waiting for organ transplants are from the African Caribbean and Asian communities. Yet less than 2% of the people on the organ donor register are from these communities.

PrintOrgan transplants are more successful if the donor and recipient have the same ethnic origin. As a result black and Asian people may wait three times as long as a white person for a kidney transplant.

If you are interested in registering go to the Organ Donation Service website where you can find more information and you can register online.

One Reply to “Campaign to help find a donor for Gaurav”

  1. Hi,
    I am Gauravs dad, i just wanted to say a big thankyou for sharing this and raising awareness of the urgent need for more stem cell donors. Gaurav has until christmas time to find a suitable donor which will be what gives him the best chance of having a future.
    An event is being held in Leeds on Sunday 3rd November 10am-2pm at Chapeltown Gudwara. I will also be travelling up to support this event. I loom forward to meeting so many amazing people and potential life savers from Leeds

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