London Fire Brigade backs appeal to find stem cell donor for firefighters young son

Donor needed: Tommy Simpson, 4, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia last month
London Fire Brigade
Laura Proto20 February 2016

The parents of a four-year-old boy diagnosed with leukaemia have launched an urgent appeal to find a stem cell donor – with London Fire Brigade (LFB) throwing their weight behind the campaign.

Tommy Simpson, the son of a LFB firefighter who works at Stratford fire station, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia last month and has been in hospital since before Christmas.

Tommy, who loves dressing up in his father’s firefighters uniform, is currently being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital and awaiting test results to see if he will need a bone marrow transplant.

But because the four-year-old is of British and black Caribbean heritage, the African Carribean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) said it would be harder to find a donor match.

His parents Nigel and Maxine are now pleading for donors to come forward after it was discovered no family members are suitable matches.

In a statement, Tommy’s parents said: “Tommy doesn’t have any siblings so the one in four chance of a sibling being a match doesn't exist for Tommy.

"It is at best a 50 per cent chance for parents to be a match for their children; this is normally a route doctors go down when they can’t find anything better.

"We know the window of opportunity for an unrelated match being found is going fast with each day passing; that’s why we are appealing for people to join the stem cell register now."

London Fire commissioner Ron Dobson said: "Firefighters are at the heart of our communities and help others day in, day out to keep London safe.

"Now we need help from the public to respond to this urgent appeal for donors for a London firefighter's son, Tommy.

"If you are yet to join the stem cell registers, please attend this donor registration drive and encourage your family and friends to attend too; Tommy desperately needs your help."

Mr Simpson’s colleagues are showing their support for the #Match4Tommy campaign and a number of donor registration drives are being held in a hope of finding a match.

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