QUEUE LOVELY BUNCH
5,000 donors in hope to save brave Oscar, 5
NEARLY 5,000 potential donors queued in the rain to help save a five-year-old boy fighting cancer.
They volunteered to help Oscar Saxelby-Lee following a desperate plea from his parents.
The youngster is in a race against time to find a life-saving stem cell donor after he was diagnosed with a rare cancer.
His parents became concerned when severe bruising turned out to be T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia last year.
Doctors say the youngster has only three months to find a stem-cell match.
But a record-breaking 4,855 people queued up to get tested for a match at Pitmaston Primary School in Worcester.
DKMS, the charity that tests the swabs, said its previous record for the highest number of people to take part in a registration event is 2,200 people. Oscar’s mum Olivia, 23, said: “We felt like we could not see light at the end of the tunnel, but when looking at Oscar’s cheeky smile, bravery and determination, we managed to pull our strength together again.
“From that moment of fear and confusion, we as a family became stronger than ever.
“Oscar reminded us how to fight again and just how courageous he is. Not once has he shown weakness, nor has he ceased to amaze us throughout the most difficult times and that to us is a true warrior. “Oscar is a fun, loving, energetic five-year-old boy who deserves to live to the full.” His teacher Sarah Keating vowed: “We will fight this.”