Leland at a football stadium

#Join4Leland

In September six year old Leland was given the lifechanging news he had myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare blood disorder that causes the bone marrow to produce too many blood cells.

Leland’s MDS puts him at high risk of developing acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) meaning he is in urgent need of a stem cell transplant. Like three in every four patients in the UK, he has no match in his family.

#Join4Leland

If you're aged 16-30 you can give Leland, and other like him, hope for a second chance of life by joining the stem cell register.

Leland developed a cough that he couldn’t shake and, after a visit to his local GP, it was revealed that his white blood cells were not at the levels they should be. In a matter of months Leland went from being a happy little six-year-old who loved seeing Santa and spending Christmas with his family to being treated by Sunderland's haematology department.

Unfortunately, none of the family are a match and as a mum I am heartbroken to not be able to give this gift to my wonderfully brave boy. Please can I ask if you can spare two minutes of your time to sign up to the stem cell register – I would be entirely grateful.

Sarah, Leland's mum

Make a donation

£40 could sign up a new lifesaving stem cell donor who could go on to save a life like Leland's.