Ocean Outdoor is launching a campaign across four UK cities to try and help find a bone marrow donor for a sick two-year-old boy who urgently needs a transplant.
Adverts appealing for donors to come forward will run across Ocean’s outdoor sites in London’s Tower Hamlets and the city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, urging people to take part in tests to find a donor for little Gaurav Bains, who lives in Tipton, 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.
Ocean Outdoor marketing director Richard Malton 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.”
Currently only four per cent of people on the Anthony Nolan donors’ register are Asian.
People in the Birmingham area are being asked to attend a donor event in Smethwick on Saturday, October 26 from 3pm. The test involves a simple saliva swab.