A mother is desperately appealing for a stem cell donor as her son prepares to spend Christmas in hospital.
Micky Bennet, 11, suffers from a rare type of cancer called Leukaemia (ETP ALL), which he was diagnosed with in July.
The aggressive form of blood cancer saw Micky undergo a transplant in November, but it unfortunately failed.
Now the Essex schoolboy has now been told that he needs a stem cell transplant from a matching, unrelated, donor if he is to be cured of his illness.
Mum Lisa told Essex Live : “He didn’t seem particularly ill at first, but he looked quite grey and kept complaining of a beating sound in his ear,” said Micky’s mum Lisa.
“He didn’t want to go to school, but he was in his first year of secondary school and wasn’t enjoying it at the time, so initially we thought that might have had something to do with it.”
Lisa sensed that there was something wrong with her son so took him to two hospitals for treatment, where he was soon diagnosed and immediately taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
She added: “I didn’t expect that it would be something so serious, we were told that this type of blood cancer doesn’t respond very well to treatment.
“The doctors have told us to make memories; we are just devastated, heartbroken.
‘We have done everything we can to put a smile on his face and we even arranged for his favourite rapper, Stormzy, to come and visit him in hospital.”
The Grime musician visited the 11-year-old in hospital to support him and put together a music video was put together to raise awareness back in October.
‘Fight Like Micky’, was viewed thousands to times on Youtube and was put together by 35-year-old Colchester musician D-Saro.
"I wanted to help and make a song as music is powerful," said D-Saro.
"The campaign started to raise funds and for the treatment because the leukaemia is so rare, the doctors don’t know everything, nor the family.
"The campaign has changed since then and we’re trying to find a stem cell donor."
He added: "I got involved through friends and family to do something positive and get this story out there.
"I wanted to make the song real and wrote the lyrics with the help of Micky’s mum telling me about his situation and I already had a music beat I was working on."
Sadly even during the Christmas season, Mickey will still be spending it in an isolation ward at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
“Everyone is running around and worrying about making Christmas perfect, but Christmas is on hold for us this year, the only thing I’m wishing for is a match for my son,” said Lisa.
Charity Anthony Nolan is now searching the stem cell register for the special stranger who could save Micky’s life.
Lisa is taking the opportunity to campaign for more people to come forward and join the Anthony Nolan stem cell donor register, to help other people in the same situation as Micky.
She said: "I would never want to see any other family go through this, it’s heartbreaking, which is why we want to help as many people as we can by raising awareness of Anthony Nolan.
“By joining the Anthony Nolan register you have the opportunity to save someone’s life.”
Sarah Rodgers, Regional Register Development Manager for London, said: “We are doing everything we can to support Micky’s family in their search for a lifesaving stem cell donor.
“Every day, five people, like Micky, will start looking for a matching stranger who might save their life.
“Every single person who joins the Anthony Nolan Register has the potential to help save someone like Micky, who is in desperate need of a transplant.
“We’re particularly calling on young men aged 16-30 to consider joining the Anthony Nolan register as young men provide 50% of all stem cell donations but currently make up just 18% of our register.’
“Anthony Nolan recruits people aged 16-30 to the stem cell register as research has shown younger people are more likely to be chosen to donate.
“It also costs £40 to recruit each potential donor to the register, so Anthony Nolan relies on financial support."
To find about more about joining the Anthony Nolan register, or to find out more about the different ways you can support, visit anthonynolan.org/join
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