A four-year-old from Harrow who was in need of a stem cell transplant from a stranger, has found a lifesaving donor within the same week as he was honoured by blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, at a digital awards celebration.
Veer Gudhka won the John Petchey Young Hero of the Year award at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2020, where celebrity presenters included Oscar winner Olivia Colman and comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar.
The prestigious Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards were back for their eighth year and recognised the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers, clinical supporters and donors who help the pioneering blood cancer charity save lives. The awards ceremony is usually held at the Tower of London, but with mass gatherings of this nature currently unable to take place there was be a digital celebration instead.
Nirav Gudhka, Veer’s father said, “We are so proud of Veer. He really is a brave little soldier. We hope this award will help is to encourage more heroes to come forward in the future, in the form of potential stem cell donors.
“We were elated to find out that Veer has secured three 90% matches, which give us a lot of comfort for when he proceeds to transplant. But there are so many people who struggle to, or worse, never actually find their match. That can all be changed if more people, across all ethnicities, take the super easy steps needed to register as stem cell donors.”
