“I’ve done a half marathon before and I know that Gaurav can get me round the other half.”
Two-year-old Gaurav has been discharged from hospital and his bone marrow is now 100% his donor’s.
On 13 April, dad Sunny is taking on the marathon for Anthony Nolan and has been fitting in training runs in by running to the hospital to see Gaurav.
Sunny has already raised almost £8,000 which will help recruit more donors to the bone marrow register.
When the parents of two-year-old Gaurav Bains from Tipton appealed for a bone marrow donor for their son, their story captured the hearts of the nation.
Now, as Gaurav recovers from his transplant, dad Sunny is taking on a new challenge – to run a 26.2 miles for Anthony Nolan and help others who are in the same position that Gaurav was just a few months ago.
Gaurav’s story
Two year-old Gaurav was diagnosed with rare blood disorder Monosomy 7 Syndrome in June 2013.
Doctors told his family that his best chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant before Christmas and the race was on to find a matching donor.
Parents Sunny and Gurprit launched a nationwide appeal to encourage people to register as bone marrow donors.
They especially encouraged Asian people to sign up as donors, as they are under-represented on the register, and we saw a 1,700% increase in online registrations from Asian donors.
Gaurav found his perfect match and had his transplant in December.
Sunny, 31, says, “The donor cells have engrafted which means that his bone marrow is 100% donor.
We’re really happy about this but there’s still a long road to recovery.
They are now creating an immune system for Gaurav which is really good news.
The support that we’ve had from friends and family has been incredible and we can’t thank everyone enough.”
10,000 new bone marrow donors
Sunny is taking on the Virgin Money London Marathon to raise money for us, the official charity of 2014.
By reaching a target of £1 million, our 400 runners will make it possible for us to add 10,000 potential bone marrow donors to the register.
Any one of them could save the life of someone in need of a transplant in the future.
On 28 February, Gaurav was discharged from hospital after months in isolation.
Sunny had been fitting in training runs while continuing work as a shop assistant in Tipton.
Gaurav must still stay in isolation at home and will be watching the marathon on the TV.
Sunny explains, “I split my time between visiting Gaurav and Gurprit in hospital, looking after our daughter Kiran, and working at the shop.
"It’s about 10 miles between our house and Birmingham Children’s Hospital so I often run to go and visit Gaurav to fit the training in.
"For me, training for the marathon has been a really good way of focusing on the future and achieving something positive.
"I’ve done a half marathon before and I know that Gaurav can get me round the other half.
"Knowing what he has gone through makes me very motivated to help Anthony Nolan support other families in the future.”
How you can help
Mary Campbell, Head of Events at Anthony Nolan, says,
“We are so happy that Gaurav is recovering well from his transplant and may be able to be discharged soon.
"The support from the community, both in signing up as donors and fundraising, has been remarkable.
"Sunny has already raised thousands of pounds for Anthony Nolan, money which will help us recruit more donors to the register.
"Any one of them could save the life of someone in desperate need of a transplant, just like a selfless donor has helped Gaurav.”
Sponsor Sunny’s marathon at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/GauravBains
If you're aged between 16–30, join the register online here.