SAFC backs Chloe’s fight
Sunderland AFC and Reading FC have backed a campaign to help find a Wearside youngster a life-saving donor.
The two football clubs have teamed up with blood cancer charity DKMS in a bid to register fans as potential lifesavers to help seven-yearold Chloe Gray find a donor forabonemarrowtransplant.
On Saturday, April 14, Sunderland travel to the Madejski Stadium, where a match-day donor registration event will be held in the fanzone to support the campaign to find Chloe and others a donor.
The Silksworth youngster, was born with a rare blood disorder called Diamond Blackfan Anaemia, which means her body doesn’t produce red blood cells and she needs regular blood transfusions to stay alive.
She urgently needs a bone marrow transplant, but a matching donor has not yet been found.
Supporters attending the home game at the Madejski Stadium have the opportunity to register as blood stem cell donors and potentially save the life of someone with a blood cancer or blood disorder. People in the UK aged between 17 and 55 can sign up to the DMKS stem cell register by taking a swab of the inside of their cheeks and sending it off to see if they are a match to be donor.
Sunderland AFC manager Chris Coleman said: “We desperately need to find a match for little Chloe and we are hopeful that the donor registration event will raise awareness of blood cancer.
“Chloe’s such a brave girl but she needs our help. If you are eligible, please register with DKMS.
“You could be the one to offer Chloe and others like her a second chance at life.”