Over the last week, two events were held in London for Dillan Ramsey Akşehir, a 4-year-old leukaemia patient.
Dillan also known as Dilly needs a transparent blood stem cell to survive and an appeal has been made to help find him a donor match.
Swab test events were held for Dilly on Saturday, September 10 in South London and on Sunday, September 11 in North London.
Dilly’s mother Amy Ramsey Akşehir announced on Saturday, September 100, from her Instagram account a match for Dillan was found. However, she emphasized that swab tests should continue to be performed in this process as the match currently lives abroad.
Saying ‘We found a match! It’s very important that he continues to sample everyone, Dillan’s match is not in this country, we rely on another country’s healthcare system to help us with this, the donor may give up at any time, we have no idea who they are. They may be sick before they donate, many things and we need as many backup options as possible. Thank you to the incredible people who helped us through the first hurdle of this very difficult journey.”
At just 20 months old, Dilly was diagnosed with leukaemia and is now in desperate need of a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Amy, who previously worked for Capital Radio, said: “I took him to the doctors and they reassured me that it was just a sprain and would probably heal in two weeks. “She didn’t, it got worse and before long she didn’t want to walk,” Amy said. As her son’s pain continues, Amy decides to go private as the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to get an appointment.
The mother, who lives in London but is originally from Manchester, added that she was later told she had a hairline fracture. “I started noticing other symptoms, he was pale, had swollen lymph nodes in her neck and armpits, and had bruises around her eyes. I booked a GP because I knew it wasn’t right.”
Join blood stem cell registries and help people like Dillan who are in need of a match. To get your free swab kit, simply visit https://www.dkms.org.uk/register-now .