FOURTEEN-year-old Daniel Singery’s life was recently turned upside down when he was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The Durban North resident is currently undergoing chemo therapy at the Capital Haematology Hospital in Durban, and while he currently has no need for a stem cell transplant, he and his family have appealed to the community to join the international database.

“This could have happened to anyone, but it happened to me and fortunately doctors say my leukemia is treatable and was caught fairly early. However, I know from experience that this is an incredibly invasive and scary process to go through, so by registering you can shorten that process for another person and secure their future,” said the brave Umhlanga College pupil.

His mother, Kathryn echoed his sentiments, saying, “A person has a one in 100 000 chance of finding a match, so the chances are that not a single person that signs up would be a match for Daniel, should his leukaemia develop to a point where he needs a donation, but there are so many other people that are in desperate need for a match.”

“Doctors have told me that cancer is so pervasive these days that it is no longer a matter of ‘if you get cancer’, but rather what kind will you get. Tomorrow it could be your child, sibling or parent that needs a match,” she said.

Daniel’s battle with leukemia started just over two weeks ago and presented itself with swollen glands all over his neck and down his body.

“I took him to our general practitioner who said it was probably nothing and that I should bring him back in six weeks, but I knew that this was not normal, even through he was not physically ill and showed no sign of a fever. So, I took him for a second opinion the next day. However, the blood tests came back normal. A few days later he suffered from a severe headache and threw up, so we rushed him to the emergency room. It was there that the doctors later confirmed that Daniel has leukemia,” said Kathryn.

The passionate pianist was in good spirits when the Northglen News met with him recently. His younger brother Matthew (9) has already volunteered as a potential donor, and will be tested should Daniel need a transplant. According to Mandy Bergsma, of the Sunflower Fund, only two teaspoons of blood is needed to register as a donor.

• For information on the registration process visit the website www.sunflowerfund.org.za.

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