THE parents of a little boy battling two life-threatening illnesses are urging more people to donate blood.

Two-year-old Jack Kleinberg suffers from Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and Mediterranean familial fever and needs frequent blood transfusions.

The youngster from Westcliff is now back in Great Ormond Street for the first of three more operations, but his family hope Jack’s plight encourages more people to donate blood.

Jack’s plight has already captured the hearts of Echo readers with several fundraisers being held in his name, but Jack’s dad, Rob Kleinberg, 41, has urged people to donate blood too.

He said: “There’s no doubt Jack wouldn’t have survived without blood donations.

“It’s really easy to give blood. It takes half-an-hour and each pint can save three lives.

“You can’t put a value on saving someone’s life.”

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome is a genetic condition affecting the immune system and sufferers need blood transfusions to stem episodes of bleeding caused by a dermatitis of the skin.

Familial Mediterranean fever is a hereditary condition, more common in people of Mediterranean descent, and causes short, recurrent episodes of peritonitis, pleuritis, arthritis and fever and can lead to renal failure, hypertension and renal vein thrombosis,.

Mr Kleinberg said: “It’s taken its toll.

“Jack is such a unique case there’s no information pool for the consultants to use.

“Everything is experimental.

You can’t go to anyone for answers because they haven’t got any.”

Jack has already had a full bone marrow transplant, but needs more operations.

Mr Kleinberg added: “They are deciding which operation is the priority. He’s had one full bone marrow transplant and two topups, which are like full transplants, but not so severe.

“He’s a little fighter.”

Jack’s mum Vicki Parrot, 29, has described her son’s latest health battle on her blog.

She said: “It’s breaking our hearts each day even more watching him face cannula after cannula, test after test poking after poking, meds after meds, question after question and then to be told after all that they still don’t know what’s going on or why that is happening.”

Thanking supporters for their posts which she said she reads to Jack, she added: “We just wish we could pick him up and run away and stop all this and shout ‘no more’.”

Before his recent setback, Jack got see his own team triumph at a charity tournament.

Jack’s Journeymen, rugby players from various local clubs, including Jack’s dad, won the Beer Cup at the Aaron Lewis Foundation 10s rugby tournament.

Instead of asking supporters for cash, the team asked them to sign up to give blood.

For more information about donating blood, visit blood.co.uk/ If you’re aged between 16 and 30 and in good health, sign up to the Anthony Nolan bone marrow donation register by visiting anthonynolan.org christine.sexton@nqe.com

 

IT’S NOW EASIER TO DONATE GIVING blood is easier than ever.

New donors can register at www.blood.co.uk/ to set up an account.

Once online, they can find a convenient donation session and book an appointment.

These can also be easily changed or cancelled online.

The account stores a donor’s details and keeps a donation history, If you want to register as a new blood donor, then you must be aged between 17 and 65.

More than 6,000 donations of blood are needed every day to meet hospital demand. Blood comes in four main types – O, A, B and AB. Group O is the most common, which means it is in high demand.

Blood can also be subdivided into its main components – red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma.

Red cells only have a shelf-life of 35 days, while platelets shelf life is only seven days, so a continuous supply is needed to save lives.

Regular donors can continue to donate after 65 as long as they are in good health.