Comedian Meera Syal today appealed for help in saving the life of a six-year-old boy who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant.
Rayaan Siddiqui is being treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital for the rare blood disease hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, but a shortage of suitable donors has led to his family, friends and doctors pleading for people to register.
Rayaan, from Welling, developed the illness in May and needs a South Asian donor — but only one in 100,000 will prove a match.
“I can’t imagine the trauma of watching your child suffer as Rayaan’s family have had to endure,” said Syal.
“This has been made all the worse due to a lack of South Asian match donors for the bone marrow transplant he desperately needs.
“Time is running out for this beautiful little boy and the person who could save him is out there somewhere. You don’t even have to leave your house to offer up a swab for a possible match, order a kit online, do a cheek swab at home and send it off.
“It could be that simple in order to save a child’s life. As a community, we say we pride ourselves on caring for our families, and yet there are so few of us who are registered donors and only someone from our community can help Rayaan.
“I urge people to register and spread the word for others to do so … one day it could be someone in our families who needs a life-saving transplant.”
Rayaan, who has two sisters Zayna, 11, and eight-year-old Shifa, has recorded a short film about himself which has been posted on Facebook.
Their father Ghazali, a chartered accountant, said: “It has been a very tough few months, but I have been amazed at the strength and courage shown by my son.”
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A campaign has been started on Facebook and groups around Britain are staging “swab sessions” to get more people of South Asian descent to join the register.
