The mother of a seven-year-old boy has issued an urgent plea for a bone marrow donor to come forward at this weekend's Notting Hill Carnival to save her son's life.
Dean Sheikh, who is of Pakistani descent, is one of the many people from an ethnic minority background, who are struggling to find a bone marrow match.
Dean who lives in Notting Hill sufferers from Dyskeratosis Congenita – an incredibly rare condition which currently affects approximately 38 people around the world.
It has destroyed his immune system and left him with a life expectancy of just five to eight years and caused his nails and hair to degenerate. The condition has left Dean with the same low level immune system as an AIDS sufferer.
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13 August 2008
Click here for the Bone marrow appeal for Dean Sheikh video
Mother of 7 year old boy from Shepherd's Bush with a rare disease is appealing for bone marrow donors to help prolong her son's life. |
Last year, he narrowly escaped death after contracting a virulent strain of pneumonia and his weakened immune system means it takes him three times longer to recover from a virus than an average child
Fewer than 3% of potential donors on the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood registers in the UK are from ethnic minority population. African Caribbean's have around a 1 in 100,000 chance of finding a compatible donor but for White northern Europeans the odds are closer to 1 in 5.
The shortage of bone marrow donors means that people from an ethnic minority have less of a chance of receiving the life saving transplants they need.
Dean's mum Farah Ikbal is now in a desperate search for a bone marrow match for a life transforming transplant for Dean.
She said: “Dean is a lovely sociable boy. He is also very happy and very determined. A transplant would improve his quality of life. He wouldn’t have to go to hospital all the time and his immune system would be stronger.
"I’m not a match for Dean and there are not enough Asian donors out there. Now we are on a huge mission to find a person who can help save his life”.
The ACLT which also offers support to sufferers, will be using the Notting Hill Carnival to raise awareness of the lack of bone marrow donors and will host recruitment sessions where people will be encouraged to register as potential donors.
All revellers that fall within the age of 18 to 49 and are generally healthy will be encouraged to register before they start their carnival partying.
Dean's mum hopes that the recruitment drive at this year's carnival will bring her a step closer to finding a bone marrow match for her son.
Orin Lewis, co-founder of ACLT, said: “We are delighted to once again be at this year's Notting Hill Carnival, raising awareness of the shortage of registered bone marrow donors.
"We know that recruiting donors at events such as Carnival really works. For instance, we have living proof that black leukaemia sufferers have received transplants from donors who came forward at previous events, including Carnival.
"There are many more people like Dean who are still desperately looking for a bone marrow match. We hope that revellers at the Carnival will take the time to register as a donor before continuing with this years celebrations."
The ACLT will be based at the Tabernacle Arts Centre in Powis Square and the recruitment drive will be open from 11am till 7pm on Sunday and Monday.
Beverley De-Gale
