 John Barnes is due at the event |
A celebrity event is being held on Saturday to raise the number of bone marrow donors from the black community. Stars such as former England footballer John Barnes will attend the fundraiser at London's Intercontinental Hotel for the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.
It was established in 1996 by Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis, parents of ex-Leukaemia sufferer Daniel De-Gale.
When he was diagnosed in 1993 there were 550 black or mixed race donors. Today there are more than 16,000.
Daniel was said to be less than a week away from certain death and was immediately put on a two-year course of chemotherapy.
Racially specific characteristics
His parents were told that Daniel's only hope of survival was to receive a bone marrow transplant.
Due to the fact that bone marrow contains racially specific characteristics, the compatible donor for Daniel could only be found within the black or mixed race population.
At the time, there were about 285,000 registered potential bone marrow donors in the UK but only 550 were black or mixed race.
The trust's campaign has helped raise awareness and raise the number to 16,000.
To build on their work celebrities such as actor Robbie Gee and comedian Richard Blackwood will be at the black-tie event.
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