'Mummy, am I going to die?' - Newry family urge people to sign up to Stem Cell register
14-year-old Daniel Greer is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant
A County Down mother has spoken of her heartbreak after her son was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia at the end of last month.
14-year-old Daniel Greer from Newry is currently in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast and his family have been told he'll require a bone marrow transplant that could save his life.
The odds of finding a match at 1 in 10 million and Daniel's family are urging people to sign up to the Stem Cell register in the hope they can find treatment.
Daniel's Mum Anne explained the moment the family were told of Daniel's diagnosis on May 30th.
"I burst into tears and uncontrollable shaking - is my son going to die and what can I do to help him?," she says
"He's been so sick and something no mother should ever have to hear is their child asking - 'Mummy am I going die?' - and I just don't know what to say to him.
"To see the lifeless wee fella, just so vulnerable in his bed, at time with the chemotherapy, it's been very hard to see that," Anne adds.
"Daniel will need a bone marrow transplant - that's potentially curative for him and that's the main route of his treatment. We're appealing for people to become registered on the stem cell register."
Daniel's older brother James, 18, is awaiting test results to find out if he can be the person to help his sibling. The chances of a close family member being a match are much greater, but it's still far from guaranteed, as Anne explains.
"There's a 1 in 4 chance that he will be a match. I'm not a betting person, but it somebody was to tell me that there's a 75 per cent chance that he won't be a match, then I want to be proactive. James gets his results in two weeks, and if he isn't a match, then we're asking people to sign up in the hope that we have an alternative.
"Daniel is a laugh a minute. He's the devil of the two of them and he's always up to something. He's always laughing and he always has mischief in his eyes.
"Among it all, we've been trying to laugh, trying to keep positive and just trying to keep positive. He's an absolute character and everyone who knows Daniel at all, loves him," she says.
Daniel and James are both members of the Cross-Border Orchestra and had been touring across Ireland with the Peace Proms.
Just a week before Daniel's diagnosis, the brothers were part of the group that played in Belfast's Waterfront Hall. They had been due to travel to New York next year to play at the world-famous Carnegie Hall on St Patrick's Day - an event that has already been postponed before due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
James says he's 'realistic' about the chances of that that happening now.
"Everything that he was so looking forward to has been put on hold. At 14, he has his whole life ahead of him. He's going into do his GCSEs and he was so looking forward to it. Now it's all been pulled out from underneath him," says James, adding that by signing up to the donor register, while you might not be a match for Daniel, you could save someone else's life.
"Daniel's match might not be out there. We're hopeful that they are, but they may not be. But you can sign up and you might be a match for someone else in need in Northern Ireland, the United States and anywhere in the world
"Do it for Daniel, but there are so many people in the same situation, hoping and praying that their match is out there. For two minutes, you could help save seven people's lives. For two minutes of your time, I think that's well worth it."
To register as a potential donor, go to www.dkms.org.uk to sign up.