Dad's heartbreaking plea for sick baby daughter after devastating diagnosis
An astonishing number of people have signed up to become stem cell donors after a father has shared his heartbreaking experience on social media of his daughter being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Ashley Cain, a reality star from the UK and a former football player found out his 12-week-old daughter Azaylia, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia last month.
Since learning of the devastating diagnosis, Mr Cain has been open about Azaylia’s journey on social media, updating his following on how she is going.
While Azaylia has responded well to treatment, doctors informed Mr Cain and his girlfriend Safiyya she would need a bone marrow transplant.
Mr Cain explained the doctors said due to the genetic type of Leukaemia, it will keep coming back, regardless of how well Azaylia responds to treatment, and finding a match for her transplant will be difficult.
“Doctors have recently informed us that down to the results of her earlier tests that because of the genetic type of leukaemia she has, no matter how well she copes with her chemotherapy and her recovery, the leukaemia will come back so she now is in desperate need for a bone marrow transplant,” Mr Cain divulged on Instagram.
“As she has an ethnic mix of Caribbean/Indian/White it is much more difficult for her to find a match.
“That being said, ANYBODY no matter what race could be her genetic match!”
A post shared by BEAST 🇻🇨🇬🇧 (@mrashleycain) on
According to Anthony Nolan, a UK-based blood cancer charity Mr Cain has teamed up with, patients with mixed backgrounds like Azaylia have a 20 per cent chance of finding an unrelated stem cell donor match.
People with white, European heritage have a 69 per cent chance of finding a match.
Mr Cain appealed for help through his social media, asking people to register as a donor, in hopes of finding a genetic match.
“All you have to do is fill out a registration form from one of the links provided, do an oral swab test which will be sent to your home and return to the listed address,” he said.
“Something so simple, could save my daughter’s life!”
Thousands of people register to become donors
According to the Milford Mercury, in the 48 hours after Mr Cain’s Instagram post urging people to register, 41,000 people did, usually only 100 people will register a day.
“Every single person who signs up to the register has the potential to give hope to someone, like Azaylia, who is in desperate need of a lifesaving stem cell transplant,” Rebecca Pritchard, who leads the Register Development team at Anthony Nolan, said in a press release.
“We’re particularly calling on people from minority ethnic backgrounds, and young men aged 16-30, to join the register.
“Young men provide more than 50 per cent of all stem cell donations but make up just 18 per cent of our register. Together, we can work towards a future where nobody is waiting for their match.”
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