Boy wants minority marrow donors

The right donor could cure Zain

A five-year-old boy who needs a bone marrow transplant is urging people from ethnic minorities to act as donors.

Zain Hashmi, from Leeds, has been waiting years to find a matching donor who could cure his rare blood disorder.

To stay alive he currently has to have blood transfusions every three to four weeks, and drugs fed from a drip for 12 hours most days of the week.

His parents have tried for a "designer baby" to be a donor since winning court approval last year, without success.

Life or death

Currently, there is a shortage of registered bone marrow donors.

Of the 361,000 people on the register, only 2% are Asian and even fewer are described as African or Oriental, according to the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Zain's parents, Raj and Shahana, won court permission to try for a "designer baby" to provide a donor after winning court approval last Spring.

But after six failed attempts at IVF and five miscarriages, the Hashmi family are running out of options.

Zain's condition, beta thalassaemia, means he cannot make enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen round his body.

Why should he die when someone out there is a potential donor? Zain's mum Shahana

He can be kept alive through blood transfusions but over time the amount of iron in the body can build to dangerous levels.

He says he hates having his treatment because it can be painful.

He wants to get better and he wants children around the world with "broken bone marrow" to get better.

When asked what he hoped the future would hold he said: "I am Zain and I am five and I have broken bone marrow.

"I have lots of medicine and I want to get better... so I can run fast. I can run now but not that fast."

Shahana said: "The shortage of donors is grave.

"Without a bone marrow donor Zain will die. Why should he die when someone out there is a potential donor?

"The vision is to have 60,000 donors from ethnic and black groups on the register.

"We are asking for a teaspoon of blood. That's not a lot."

Dr Simon Fishel, who is overseeing Mr and Mrs Hashmi's IVF treatment, said it was unfortunate that high-tech IVF treatments had not yet worked for the Hashmi family.

"People from ethnic minorities need to come forward and to help children such as Zain in the hope that they may be a tissue match and actually cure his condition and save his life," he said.