Twice-diagnosed leukaemia patient Cameron Patel reveals he has a donor after heartbreaking appeal – Leicestershire Live

By daniellenierenberg

A twice-diagnosed leukaemia patient from Leicester has found a donor after making an emotional plea from his hospital bed.

Cameron Patel was first diagnosed with the illness aged 18 after being rushed to A&E with a dangerously high heart rate.

After months of treatment at Leicester Royal infirmary he was given the all-clear in February and was looking forward to his life getting back to normal.

Despite there being a low chance of Cameron having a relapse in June this year that's exactly what happened.

The leukaemia had returned and this time doctors said he would need a bone marrow transplant.

So the search for the best possible match began.

Due to his dual heritage, the chances of finding a suitable match for him were significantly low so Cameron was told that the search would not be easy.

After celebrating his 20th birthday this month, Cameron from Knighton, Leicester has now revealed that he will be receiving a transplant from his own mother.

"My mum brought me into this world and she's keeping me here," he told LeicestershireLive.

Sarah Patel, Cameron's mum, is only a 50 per cent match for him which is less than a potential match from a stranger would be.

She said: "You support as much as you can but at the end of the day you have to watch him go through it - so to be his donor makes me really happy, even if it is just a half match."

Although every effort was made to find him a match doctors couldn't find a single donor despite looking worldwide.

Now he will have what is called a haploidentical transplant which involves a half-match from a parent.

Sarah said: "Being one of the last resorts made me feel quite worried because even though I'm his mum, a stranger could have been a higher match.

"But he can't keep having chemotherapy forever and we can't wait around too long because he relapsed quite quickly so we know the pattern of his disease now.

"It's been mixed emotions but I'd do anything for him."

In the months leading up to his transplant, which will happen on Thursday 24 October, Cameron and his mother have undergone health checks and and tests to ensure that she is well enough to be his donor.

Any signs of illness or underlying health conditions in Sarah would mean that her stem cells could not be used.

Due to the low percentage match there are risks with the haplo transplant, including graft versus host disease (GvHD) in which the donated bone marrow or stem cells attack the body due to it being foreign.

Cameron will receive conditioning therapy in which chemotherapy will prepare his body for the transplant.

Following the transplant, he will have to remain isolated for 100 days - only his sister and mum will be allowed to see him.

"I've got a few films and games for my recovery period but I can't wait to just get out," he said.

Sarah said that her daughter, Charis has been a "great support for Cameron" and herself.

"They just love each other so much," the 55-year-old said about the siblings.

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The family have coined the day of Cameron's transplant as "day 0" and will count down the days until he can start living a normal life.

"It's been a difficult year or so but I can't really process things - I'm just sort of in this sub-universe where I'm just getting on with it."

"We couldn't do it with out our friends and family and Cameron's friends have been amazing," Sarah said.

Cameron has now moved to Nottingham University Hospital for his transplant, after spending the majority of the last year at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

"To be honest, I've been a bit low about leaving, I miss the nurses and everyone in ward 27 - they're family to me," Cameron said.

"When I relapsed I was in a really bad place and the nurses would come in and watch a film with me or play cards.

"There's doing nurse duties and there's being a friend - I want to thank them for everything."

Throughout his treatment, Cameron has made it his mission to raise awareness of blood disease and how people can help.

"I'm glad that I've been able to get out once in a while to spread the message - it's all good sitting in hospital and doing it from my iPhone but it's nice to go out and see the people you're speaking to," he said.

"Once I'm out of here I want to travel a bit and then carry on spreading awareness to young people," he added.

During his time on the teenage cancer ward Leicester Royal Infirmary, Cameron became friends with Coalville Town's footballer Courtney Wildin, who was also undergoing treatment for leukaemia.

Courtney had a transplant earlier this year and has since stayed in touch with Cameron.

They plan to work together to encourage young people to join the bone marrow donor register.

"He reached out to me while we were both on the ward and we ended up becoming good friends," Courtney said.

"We're going to start off going to colleges and tell people our story."

Without the haploidentical stem cell transplant, Cameron would still be left without a single match.

He wants to help to make sure that there can be a donor for everyone.

He said: "There are a lot of people out there who need a donor - two minutes of your life could save someones entire life."

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Twice-diagnosed leukaemia patient Cameron Patel reveals he has a donor after heartbreaking appeal - Leicestershire Live