Boy told cancer has returned on 16th birthday

The family of a boy from Lincoln have launched an urgent plea for a stem cell donor after being told his cancer had returned on his 16th birthday.

Reece Khan has been told he faced gruelling treatment and has been given a one-in-five chance of survival by medics.

His family was now working with the charity Anthony Nolan to find a stem cell donor.

Reece's mother, Selina Niman, 51, a care worker from Lincoln, said the news had "broken" the family.

Reece was initially diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a rare cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, when he was 11-years-old.

The diagnosis came days before the first Covid lockdown in March 2020.

Mrs Niman said it was "absolutely devastating" for the family, adding: "It was horrendous. And because it was Covid, we couldn't have any visitors up here."

Reece, who has a love of baking and watching food programmes, also had further complications due to having Type 1 diabetes.

He was told he was cancer-free 18 months ago after three and a half years of treatment.

However, he started getting headaches earlier this year and later found out his cancer had returned and spread to his brain.

His family said his chemotherapy would now be much stronger and he would need radiotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

Mrs Niman said: "We're just broken as a family. We just don't know what else to do or where to go. Words cannot explain how we feel now.

"I just want to jump in his hospital bed and swap places with him."

As Reece is mixed race, it will be statistically harder for him to find a stem cell donor.

Charity Anthony Nolan said people from minority ethnic backgrounds often had rarer tissue types which made it harder to find matching donors.

Reece's brother, Kyle, 25, has been tested and is a half match.

The charity said it was searching worldwide registers to find a full match and give the treatment the best chance of success.

Rowena Bentley, head of programme and community recruitment at the charity, said: "It's vital that we raise awareness of stem cell donation and encourage more people to join the register.

"We know that younger stem cell donors give patients the best chance of survival.

"That's why we're calling on healthy 16 to 30-year-olds to join the register now, so that people like Reece can have a second chance at life."

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