A YOUNG boy from Newent is fighting for his life every day - and he needs your help.

Olcán Wilkes is six years old and has a life threatening condition.

Hi parents Sam Wilkes, 36, a farmer and former retained firefighter from Newent who went to school at Malvern Link, and Genevieve Wilkes, a senior project manager want to share his story in the hope it can help spread awareness of his condition.

Sam said: “Olcán has a life threatening condition. Olcán needs a stem cell donor.

“In July my wife, Genevieve, moved over to Northern Ireland with my two sons Olcán 6 and Hunter 4 for a new job.

“Three weeks after the move Genevieve noticed very severe bruising on my son Olcán.

“The following week Olcán tripped when out on a walk and both his arms ended up black.

“Genevieve got him in to the GP who did a full blood test. Later on that afternoon she received a phone call from the GP telling her to pack a bag and get him down to the haematology and oncology ward urgently

“At this point his red blood cells were in the 70s instead of around 150 in a healthy person.”

Olcán underwent tests.

“Olcan was diagnosed with a very rare condition called Aplastic anaemia and another test came back with a positive trace for PHN another extremely rare condition.

“Two very rare blood conditions in adults and even more so in children. Chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant are the only cure.

“We were crushed to find out Olcán is a rare tissue type. He falls into the small percentage with no match. Hunter wasn’t a match and not one match on the global register. We decided to try immunotherapy to prolong his life.

“This ATG treatment in mild to moderate cases of aplastic anaemia has a 60% success rate that they will no longer be transfusion dependent.

“His numbers would settle at a level that would be higher than they are now but compared to you and I, extremely low.

“Three weeks ago he was given the ATG. We are still looking for a donor match. So, please check on the link worldmarrowdonorday.org/become-a-donor/ for information on where you can donate.”