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Bessbrook boy Bobby Browne is being admitted today to the Great North Children's Hospital in Newcastle following news that a stem cell donor has been found but the eight year old still has a tough journey ahead of him.
Due to the difficulty in finding an exact match and because Bobby needs a stem cell transplant urgently they have had to pick a donor who isn't a full match. His parents Louise and Danny are asking for everyone to keep him in their prayers for minimal side effects at this worrying time. Louise said "Bobby has a rough road ahead of him unlike anything he had been through so far"
Louise added "Bobby has to have aggressive chemo and radiation therapy for 8 days before he has the transplant which will mean a lot of side effects alongside those from the chemo and radiation therapy."
Many events have been held locally over the past few months to find a donor and these no doubt will continue.
This Saturday 22 July Carrickcruppen GAA arecarrying out testing at their Festival of Football for Under 8.5 boys with teams coming from some of the biggest clubs from all over the north with upwards of 400 players expected on the day.
A club spokesperson said "The main focus alongside the wee lads playing against different teams from other counties is to raise as much awareness as possible across as many clubs as we can to help find Bobby a match."
Testing will be available on the day at the club if anyone wants to just come down the matches start at 11am or can be ordered online and done from your own home. Someone out there can be another person’s hero and not know.
The test to find a potential match is very simple and involves 3 swabs one after the other taken from the mouth. It takes less than 10 minutes. You can register at www.dkms.org.uk
Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty has passed on his good wishes to the family. Mr McNulty said “Bobby’s story highlights the importance of being on the bone marrow donor register, and I would encourage everyone who has not yet joined to do so – you could save someone’s life.
“The goodwill and good wishes of everyone will follow Bobby as he now embarks upon the next stage of his treatment. My prayers are with the Browne family, particularly Bobby, so that he comes through his treatment and transplant with flying colours.”
