They might be at the bottom of the league, but one north football team has won the hearts of locals by joining the search for a donor for a young girl stricken with a rare cancer.
Fort William Football Club said it was “proud to announce” that their first team squad has joined the search for a donor for local girl Chloe Purvis, aged 9.
Chloe, a school pupil from Fort William, has been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant. The average age for someone to be diagnosed with MDS is 75.
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Fort William Football Club players and officials joined the search by registering their details with the Anthony Nolan Trust, where they can sign up to be a bone marrow donor.
Fort William Football Club, Manager, Russell MacMorran said: “I was made aware of Chloe’s circumstances by one of our players and our assistant chairman, Colin Wood. “This is such a special case and the request needs to be highlighted not just at local level.
“I know it’s a small gesture from the lads, but you never know where the match may come from and as a local community club it was the least we could do. Chloe and her family have our continued support.”
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature and therefore do not become healthy blood cells.
Chloe is now having treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow, which is almost a three-hour drive away from the family home.
Chloe’s dad, Lea, will often take her to her appointments while Sarah looks after her other three young children, four-year-old Isla and two-year-old twins Charlotte and Elsie.
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All three of Chloe’s sisters have been tested to see if they could be suitable to donate their stem cells to Chloe but unfortunately none of them are a match.
Speaking about her daughter’s diagnosis mum Sarah Purvis said: ‘It was so overwhelming, a huge shock. You don’t ever expect to be told that your child has cancer, you don’t ever want to be told that.’
‘I think signing up to the register is something that could catch on with other teams and hopefully football teams, shinty teams, hockey teams and other athletes from around the country will follow suit.’
Amy Bartlett, Regional Development Manager for Scotland, said: “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 make up just 18% of our register.”
To join the Anthony Nolan register visit anthonynolan.org/join