A WOMAN who was inspired by a Worcester boy with leukaemia to join a donor register has donated her stem cells to a blood cancer victim.

A woman - who signed up to be a donor after hearing of the desperate plea of Oscar Saxelby-Lee's family - has donated her stem cells.

Several events were organised in Worcester after Oscar, aged six, appealed for help to find a match. He later went on to have a stem cell transplant and, although the leukaemia returned afterwards, his family say it bought him precious time to find other treatment options abroad. Oscar is now cancer free following experimental CAR-T treatment in Singapore, paid for after a crowdfunding campaign more than £700,000.

A heartwarming Facebook post from the Hand In Hand for Oscar page said: “And this you lovely lot, is why we feel so strongly about registering to become a stem cell donor.

“Oscar’s 10/10 match back in 2019 didn’t cure him, BUT, it helped him survive! Without the first stem cell transplant, Oscar’s disease was far too uncontrollable to treat. Without his incredible Mr German donor, we daren’t think where we would be right now.

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“Along this dreadful, gruelling, traumatic journey, has come so many blessings. For us our boy’s life, finding love and companionship from so many people, for six others a donor match, and now an actual donor. If that’s not something to cheer about I don’t know what is. Thank you for all of your love, well wishes, kind gestures and support. We surely are feeling pretty proud right now.”

Jen Kelly, from the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, which supported Oscar's appeal, said: “It is wonderful to hear that Oscar is continuing to do well at the moment and the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust is proud to have played a part in making Oscar’s progress possible. Oscar first captured the hearts of Worcestershire when his parents and Pitmaston School made an emotional plea for people to join the bone marrow donor register.

“It is heart-warming to hear that Oscar’s bone marrow drive has already resulted in at least one bone marrow match for another person too - over time I have no doubt that Oscar’s bone marrow drives will help many other individuals too. It shows what a community can do when they pull together.”

We previously reported that events held for Oscar added 6,256 people to a register of potential stem cell donors - although the number of people inspired by his story to join the register elsewhere or by post will make that figure much higher.