Bone marrow donor found for little Gaurav

But this afternoon his delighted family revealed a matching donor had been found and he will now undergo a transplant in December.

Relatives of Gaurav launched a campaign to appeal for more bone marrow donors to come forward after the youngster was diagnosed with rare blood disorder Monosomy 7 Syndrome in June this year.

Doctors told his family that without a bone marrow transplant before Christmas, Gaurav is likely to develop an aggressive form of childhood leukaemia.

The family has since been working with blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan to appeal for more bone marrow donors to step forward, and today revealed that a match has been found.

Gaurav's father Sunny Bains, from Alexandra Road, said: "When we were told that there was a matching donor, we just couldn't believe it. Our feelings towards Gaurav's donor are overwhelming because that person is giving Gaurav such an important gift. If I could, I would go to meet Gaurav's donor right now and give them the biggest hug in the world.

"A matching donor means that we can go ahead with Gaurav's bone marrow transplant. It is a very serious procedure but we know that it will give Gaurav the best possible chance at survival.

"We hope that having the support of those around us will give us the strength we will need to get through the challenges ahead."

Mr Bains said that doctors had found it difficult to find a potential donor on the register due to the low number of Asian people available on the list for a transplant.

And the family had also suffered blows as Gaurav's father, mother Gurprit and four-year-old sister Kiran were found not to be matches.

The Anthony Nolan charity estimates that more than 2,000 people have joined the bone marrow register as a result of Gaurav's appeal.