The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Raith Rovers hope to help sick firefighter towards his goal
Need for a transplant prompts players to join national bone marrow register
Raith Rovers players hope to give a Kirkcaldy firefighter a sporting chance as he faces the battle of his life.
Members of the League One team have signed up to a national bone marrow register after hearing fan Gary Dall is in desperate need of a transplant.
The 49-year-old has developed myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a type of blood cancer, caused by chemotherapy following a previous stem cell transplant in 2010.
Gary, a married father-of-four, said he would die unless a donor was found soon.
“My case is being described as urgent by my specialist and a stem cell transplant is the only potential cure,” he said.
Gary has been a firefighter for almost 30 years, most of which have been spent at Kirkcaldy fire station.
He has Crohn’s disease and when the medication he was on stopped working seven years ago, he was offered the chance to take part in a clinical trial involving a transplant of his own stem cells.
“Late last year my blood counts were getting lower and lower and a bone marrow test showed I had MDS.
“That was a result of the chemo I received during the first stem cell transplant.”
Gary is still receiving chemotherapy injections but a transplant is his only hope.
The fire service formed a partnership with blood cancer charity The Anthony Nolan Trust some years ago and is holding a public donor event at Kirkcaldy fire station next weekend.
Raith Rovers FC, where Gary’s son is a ball boy, have also agreed to help and every player aged 16 to 30 will donate a sample to see if they are a potential donor match.
The club will also publicise his plight with social media appeals.
Manager Barry Smith said it was a very worthwhile cause.
“Raith Rovers is a community-based club and it’s important to promote the campaign to get donors,” he said.
“When it comes down to it, you don’t know who it will affect in your own life.
“We want to make it known we’re doing this because there will be people out there who don’t realise they can help.”
Anyone interested in becoming a donor should go along to Kirkcaldy fire station next Saturday between 11am and 4pm.
The process is painless and involves filling in a form and a spit kit. The only requirements are that potential donors must be aged between 16 and 30 and must not have had anything to eat or drink for 30 minutes beforehand.
We want to make it known we’re doing this because there will be people out there who don’t realise they can help. BARRY SMITH