Alex Nicholson, a 24-year-old man of Greek and English heritage, needs help now to help fight the leukemia that is ravaging his body.
Suffering from leukemia, a cancer of the blood, he has now exhausted every usual treatment. His only chance now is to find a stem cell donor who would donate their bone marrow to Alex as a humanitarian gesture.
A match is more likely to find among those of similar ethnicity, so after having spread the word in Greece and the UK, Alex and his friends now would like to reach out to the Greek-American community in hopes that someone can be a compatible donor for him.
Diagnosed with cancer six times in the last five years, Alex’s mother states that he is now on his “last chance,” following a relapse recently.
Leukemia battle rages on for young English-Greek man
Alex, who is from Vange, in the county of Essex, was first diagnosed with blood cancer in 2016, but the latest news has left the lung Greek-English man with very few options.
He’s now relying on a stem cell donor matching with his to allow him to have a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Alex has already had what his mother calls “endless” chemotherapy treatments and two stem cell transplants — which failed to cure his leukemia.
A fighter, Alex was even put into an induced coma in January of 2020 for an entire week after undergoing a strong dose of chemotherapy.
His mother Debbie, 48, is pleading for any and all potential donors to come forward.
She tells the Essex newspaper The Echo, “It’s his last chance now. The doctors haven’t told us how long he’s got left, we just don’t know.
“The doctors have tried everything, but it just keeps coming back. It’s heartbreaking, but we’re trying to stay as optimistic as possible. Alex is really positive, and that really helps me too.”
However, she admitted “It’s been really tough. I donated some of my stem cells in 2017 as I was a 50 percent match, but the cancer just returned.
“There is a glimmer of hope and one more chance with an unrelated stem cell donor,” she explains.
The Leukaemia Cancer Society has shared the appeal far and wide in Greece and the UK — but now it is time to reach out to Greek Americans to see if someone on these shores can donate.
Nicholson told reporters from The Echo, “It’s not just for people like me, I would urge anyone to donate. It could save someone’s life, like mine.
“Me and mum are really close, and that’s really helped us try and stay as positive as possible. My brother has a season ticket at West Ham, and I sometimes go along with him,” Alex adds. This is his favorite team and following them is one of his favorite pastimes.
To donate stem cells in the US, which replenish themselves in the donor’s body after several weeks — please contact DKMS, a bone marrow registry for those aged between 17 and 55. All those interested can take an easy test and register to see if they could help Alex.
The British Bone Marrow Register is the best resource for those in the UK who are aged between 17 and 40 and who are interested in donating to help this young man.
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