Sutton's volunteer police cadets and officers from Beddington South Safer Neighbourhoods Team were busy helping out at a charity five-a-side football match at the Lucozade Power League, Hannibal Way, on Saturday, 20 February to support a campaign to save the life of four-year-old Tommy Simpson.
The cadets were shaking buckets to raise cash and encouraged visitors to take part in the raffle to support an appeal to find Tommy a potential lifesaving bone marrow donor.
The cadets were shaking buckets to raise cash and encouraged visitors to take part in the raffle to support an appeal to find Tommy a potential lifesaving bone marrow donor.
Imminent test results will reveal whether Tommy will require an unrelated stem cell (bone marrow) donor to save his life.
Tommy, of white (British) and black (Caribbean) heritage, was diagnosed in January 2016 with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) after being admitted to hospital a few days before Christmas.
His mixed heritage makes it extremely hard to find a donor as matching stem cell tissue types are inherited. Mixed race people have less than a 20% chance of finding an unrelated best possible match. There are only 3% of donors on the UK stem cell register who are mixed race - making Tommy's chances of finding an unrelated donor extremely difficult.
Extended family members were immediately tested. However, a suitable match within the family was not found.
Tommy, who is being treated at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, is the son of London firefighter Nigel Simpson, aged 48, who works at Stratford Fire Station, and Maxine Francis, aged 45.
On Saturday, local footballers aged under 15 were joined by others from across London to raise awareness of the appeal, raise money and importantly, to encourage donors to come forward. Around £200 was raised at the event and a number of people volunteered to be donors.
Charity ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust), which promotes bone marrow and blood donation, is leading the #Match4Tommy campaign to register donors in good health between the ages of 17-55.
For further information, visit: aclt.org
Or call 020 3757 7700.
Tommy, of white (British) and black (Caribbean) heritage, was diagnosed in January 2016 with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) after being admitted to hospital a few days before Christmas.
His mixed heritage makes it extremely hard to find a donor as matching stem cell tissue types are inherited. Mixed race people have less than a 20% chance of finding an unrelated best possible match. There are only 3% of donors on the UK stem cell register who are mixed race - making Tommy's chances of finding an unrelated donor extremely difficult.
Extended family members were immediately tested. However, a suitable match within the family was not found.
Tommy, who is being treated at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, is the son of London firefighter Nigel Simpson, aged 48, who works at Stratford Fire Station, and Maxine Francis, aged 45.
On Saturday, local footballers aged under 15 were joined by others from across London to raise awareness of the appeal, raise money and importantly, to encourage donors to come forward. Around £200 was raised at the event and a number of people volunteered to be donors.
Charity ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust), which promotes bone marrow and blood donation, is leading the #Match4Tommy campaign to register donors in good health between the ages of 17-55.
For further information, visit: aclt.org
Or call 020 3757 7700.