A former Worcester rugby player is appealing for help to save his son’s life.
Sam Wilkes, a former Worcester Wanderers player, is calling for people to sign up as bone marrow donors as his son Olcán battles a rare blood disorder.
Seven-year-old Olcán was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia in September after parents Sam and Genevieve noticed severe bruising over his body.
A bone marrow transplant is the only known cure for the disorder and due to the severity of Olcán’s condition, doctors say any potential illness could prove fatal. The average death rate for those with the condition is 70% within a year.
To beat the life-threatening condition, Olcán’s family are appealing for members of the public to join the bone marrow register, a process that involves filling in an online form and returning a painless mouth swab.
'We are desperate'
“After Olcán’s diagnosis, it took a while for the severity of it all to sink in,” said Sam.
“We are desperate to encourage as many people as possible to take the two minutes it takes to register for the free swab, for Olcán and others like him. Those two minutes, and the time spent returning the swab, could quite literally save his young life.
“Everybody that gives blood is making an enormous difference, too, watching Olcán go through multiple transfusions weekly. He’s just the most wonderful boy, who misses football, his friends and play fighting with his brother - and our abiding hope is that we can find a donor match in time.”
As he waits to find a match, Olcán undergoes two to three platelet transfusions a week and a blood transfusion every couple of weeks. He attends his old school in Ross on Wye remotely via a ‘robot’ from his new home in Antrim, Northern Ireland, or from his hospital bed.
Willing to do anything to keep their son alive, Olcán’s parents investigated the option of IVF so they could use a cord blood transfer from a selective embryo, a process that means having another baby might provide an identical bone marrow match for Olcán. But doctors say their son does not have nine months to wait.
To register to become a bone marrow donor visit dkms.org.uk/register-now
You can read more about Olcán’s story and follow his journey on Instagram
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