Baby Ronnie Manders, with his brother, James-Thomas.
A HEARTFELT plea has been made by the family of a seriously ill baby for Islanders to attend an Anthony Nolan bone marrow recruitment event and possibly help save his, and other’s, lives.
Ronnie Manders, 14 months, was diagnosed with juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia, a very rare blood disorder, in July.
Doctors told his family a bone marrow transplant was Ronnie’s only hope of survival. They are now working urgently with the blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan, to find a match.
Mum Whitney, who was born and grew up on the Isle of Wight, said: "Although Ronnie is having chemo, it will not cure him — just buy us a bit more time in which to find a donor he needs so much."
Whitney, 25, moved to the Midlands when she married James, 34, and they now run a catering business in Redditch, Worcestershire.
Ronnie, whose grandfather, Tommy Booth, is chairman of Sandown and Shanklin Rugby Club, was born in Redditch hospital and is receiving treatment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
His aunt, Christie-Lee Booth, still lives on the Island and is organising a recruitment event on Thursday, October 25, from 3pm until 7pm, at Sandown and Shanklin RFC, in Station Approach. People aged between 16 and 30 can sign up to the bone marrow register to see if they are a match for someone like Ronnie.
As well as finding a match for their little boy, the family wants to raise awareness of the charity Anthony Nolan and the urgent need for more people to sign up to the bone marrow register.
• For further information, visit anthonynolan.org or facebook.com/rallyforronnie
Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk