A DAD is jumping in the saddle to support a five-year-old boy whose search for a stem cell donor has touched the hearts of the local community and countrywide.

Dan Martyr is set to cycle 100 miles in Velo Birmingham and Midlands in support of Oscar Saxelby-Lee who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia.

Oscar is currently undergoing intensive chemotherapy, and the campaign to find him a stem cell donor – entitled Hand in Hand for Oscar – has seen thousands of people queueing at registration events in Worcester and further afield.

Mr Martyr’s fundraising has already received a sizeable boost from former England goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Mr Martyr added: “I was quite taken aback when a donation of £500 pinged into my Just Giving Account, but, as I’m not a big football fan, I didn’t recognise the name of the contributor.

"The Wolves fans in the office quickly made me aware who Ben was, and I can’t thank him enough for such a generous donation.”

Mr Martyr’s son Laurie is in the same class as Oscar at Pitmaston Primary School in St John's.

Mr Martyr said: “Oscar’s mum was one of the first people my wife spoke to when Oscar and Laurie started school in September.

"You see stories about fundraisers and your heart goes out to people, but this is very personal to us as we know Oscar.

“Leukaemia is so indiscriminate - it could have been any one of the five-year-olds in the class.

“Once we found out that Oscar was unwell, the PTA wanted to show as much support as possible and began focussing on donor registration and fundraising. The response has been incredible – the stem cell swab event at Pitmaston School broke the record for the most people registered at a single UK event.”

Mr Martyr says he is training as much as possible for the event, adding: “At the moment 60 miles has been my max. A hundred miles is a big challenge, but I don’t think it will be the last one, as I really want to continue raising funds and spreading the message.

“The more we increase awareness the better and the more funds we collect the greater our ability to help Cure Leukaemia fund their nurses and treatment programmes.”

The 100-mile cycle event for Cure Leukaemia will take place on May 12. To donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/dan-martyr1

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