Everton FC is opening its doors for a swabbing event on Saturday October 9 and Sunday October 10, hosted by blood cancer charity DKMS, to find potential donors to add to the international register.
Former Blues defender Gary Stevens – whose four-year-old son Jack remains in desperate need of a donor after suffering a cancer relapse following treatment for juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia, a rare blood cancer that affects young children – is encouraging as many people as possible to turn up and be swabbed.
“Imagine having the power to save someone’s life? If you like the idea of having that power, please get yourself down to Goodison and support the event,” said Stevens, who now lives in Australia.
“You can have a simple mouth swab, register within five minutes and you may find yourself saving somebody’s life on the other side of the world.
“It’s been a tough few years for the Stevens family, with my little boy having a rare leukaemia. The support that we have had all the way through this difficult time has been very comforting, and it might be that it’s a little too late to save Jack.
“However, there are little kids all over the world who are desperately in need of a match for their stem cells, so please give your time and you might find yourself a superhero!”
Adult fans aged between 17 and 55, and in good health, are invited to visit the Captains’ Table Lounge, situated in the Park End at Goodison Park, on Saturday or Sunday, when a simple and painless series of swabs are taken from the inside of the mouth in a five-minute registration process.
Opening times for the drop-in clinic will be 10am to 4pm on Saturday and 9am to 3pm on Sunday. Parking is available at the stadium on Saturday, with street parking only available on Sunday.
If contacted at a later date, fans who have the life-saving potential of becoming a stem cell donor will be asked to give up half a day to travel to specialist centres in either Birmingham, Sheffield or London to become a donor. All costs would be covered and employers contacted by the charity to ensure time off work can be granted for a worthy cause.
If you cannot make the event at Goodison Park but still want to help, and are aged between 17 and 55 and in good general health, then you can still register online for your home swab kit, or donate towards the cost of processing the swabs, at www.dkms.org.uk/jack.