Oscar Saxelby-Lee
In a world-record-breaking performance, 4,855 individuals stood in the rain for hours to be tested to see whether they were a match for a 5-year-old kid who was fighting rare cancer. If they were, they could help save his life.
Following an urgent plea from Oscar Saxelby-parents, Lee’s possible donors stepped up to assist the brave young man.
After being diagnosed with leukemia, the child is in a race against time to find a stem-cell donor who can save his life.
When significant bruising was discovered to be T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, his parents were understandably alarmed (T-ALL).
It is now only three months left, according to his doctors, for him to discover a stem-cell match that could save his life.
Pitmaston Primary School in the United Kingdom opened its doors to the public for a donor search over the weekend. Over 4,800 people lined up to have their blood tested.
He was taught by Sarah Keating, who shared her experience: “I’ve been teaching for twenty years, and I have never had a child go through anything like this.”
“When you hear about children getting cancer, your first reaction is to mention, ‘That’s terrible,’ then go on. We have not moved on in this matter, and we will fight it to the end.”
It was a surprise to Oscar’s teaching assistant, Laura Senter, 22 years old when he received his diagnosis.
“I could not believe what I was seeing,” she said. I saw him just before Christmas, and he was his usual upbeat and cheerful self. It’s a horror that something like this might happen. You are unable to prevent it from happening, which is heartbreaking.”
If a youngster trips over and slashes their knee, you can apply plaster to it. With something as complex as this, there is no simple solution. That is why we have shifted into ‘action mode’ to try to locate a donor. “I paid Oscar a visit to the hospital last month, on his birthday,” I said.
All of his parents purchased gifts for him,” says the mother.
“He was really swollen thanks to all the chemotherapy, but you ‘ll see he was still considerably himself on the within.” When we first came out, we realized that we needed to do everything we could to support him.
DKMS, the non-profit organization that tests the swabs, claims to have set a new record for the most number of persons who have attended a registration event: 2,200 people.
More than 100 volunteers worked in two school halls over the weekend, handing out swabs and taking registration paperwork from potential organ donors.
Oscar was diagnosed with T-ALL on December 28 and was subsequently diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia.
Following his diagnosis, his distraught parents, Olivia Saxelby and Jamie Lee, of Worcester, UK, launched an appeal to find a match for him.
“Hand in Hand for Oscar” was a campaign that sought to recruit as many donors for blood stem cell transplants as feasible. The goal was to recruit as many donors as possible.
According to Saxelby, 23: “There were times when we didn’t think there was any light at the end-of-the tunnel, but when we saw Oscar’s cheeky smile, courage, and drive, we gathered our strength back together again.”
“Out of that moment of terror and turmoil, we as a family emerged stronger than we had ever been before.” Oscar has shown us how to fight once more and just how brave he is. He has never once displayed signs of weakness. He has never failed to astound us even in the most trying of circumstances, and that is what we consider to be a true warrior.”
The trooper describes Oscar as “a happy, loving, and active 5-year-old boy who deserves to live his life to the fullest extent possible alongside the other troopers facing such awful conditions.”
“Not only does he require the enjoyment of a normal childhood, but he also requires the assistance of someone to save him.”
