Newport County are opening their gates before their game with Yeovil Town early this Saturday in a bid to find a potentially lifesaving bone marrow donor for Marley Nicholls.
Marley has recently been diagnosed with a rare condition called Aplastic Anaemia. The disease only affects around 30 to 40 children in the UK each year and without a bone marrow transplant the condition will be fatal within a few years.
On Saturday 15 September, Newport County AFC and Rodney Parade will be opening the gates early to host swabbing stations for Marrow for Marley, a campaign set up in aid of the six-year-old.
The swabbing stations will open from midday and will be located in the Stadium Marquee. This can be accessed by going through the main Rodney Parade gates which are on the corner of Grafton Road and Beresford Road.
The swab stations will remain open until 3pm and will re-open after the game from 5pm to 6pm. The process of signing up as a donor will take less than five minutes and the swabbing will take just seconds. That’s just five minutes to find out if you can save a special little boy’s life.
Yeovil Town supporters will also be able to donate as a table will be set up in the stadium’s away supporters bar between 1:30pm to 3pm.
Marley is a very special, fun-loving little boy and has captured the hearts of everyone who’s been touched by his story. This is obvious from the fact people have flocked in their thousands to be swabbed in the hope that they are a potential donor.
On Saturday, Marrow for Marley will be welcoming anyone aged 17 between 55 to be tested to see if they are Marley’s match. Please note that people with certain autoimmune and blood diseases are not able to be donors – information about this can be found online.
Marley and younger brother George will be joining the Club as special guests on Saturday and will be walking out with the team.
To find out more about Marley and to follow the progress of the campaign follow Marrow for Marley on Facebook and Twitter.