Help Save Afonso Couto
You Can Make A Difference Touring Car racer Andre Couto has shifted his whole family from their home in Macau to Portugal – because their six year old son, Afonso, is very seriously ill, with Leukemia. Afonso is in isolation, receiving chemotherapy, at the Oncological Hospital in Oporto. ONLY A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT CAN SAVE HIS LIFE. Andy Priaulx is actively involved in trying to solve the urgent problem of finding a bone marrow donor, and Andy told Johnny Mowlem about the problem, which is how we became aware of it on DSC. Finding a bone marrow donor can only happen through the bone marrow register, so the request we’re making here is this: DO YOU HAVE THE TIME TO MAKE CONTACT WITH YOUR LOCAL HOSPITAL, TO ASK TO BE PUT ON THE BONE MARROW REGISTER? The hospital will take a blood sample – and someone will surely be a match for Afonso. Donating bone marrow is not a painful process. All it would take is a couple of hours and you could be a life saver. “The doctors have been searching worldwide for a donor for him,” explains Andre Couto, “but till this moment, we haven't been able to locate one. Afonso has grown up loving racing, and coming down to the pits and watching us race, however he is the one who faces an extremely difficult race, the race for his life.” If you’re prepared to donate some of your bone marrow, you may help some other unfortunate soul – while someone else helps Afonso. Please do it, pick up the phone and find out how you can become a donor. Afonso’s website, set up by his father, shows how easy it is to become someone's hero by saving someone else's life. www.saveafonso.com “Afonso has already received two cycles of chemotherapy and is going to the third cycle which is the hardest one - and time is running out,” reveals his father. Come on, sportscar people, we can do this! The UK website link, to become a bone marrow donor, is https://secure.blood.co.uk/bonemarrow.asp or call 0845 7711711. Details worldwide are on Afonso’s website under “Donation Centers”.
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