Leukaemia campaigner Daniel De Gale dies (From Croydon Guardian)

Leukaemia campaigner Daniel De Gale dies

3:09pm Thursday 9th October 2008 in News By Peter Truman

A man whose fight against leukaemia inspired hundreds of Afro-Caribbean people to donate bone marrow has died.

Daniel De Gale, from Croydon, died from an illness unrelated to cancer.

The 21-year-old was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1993 aged six, and a lack of black donors meant the odds of finding a match were 250,000-to-one.

This shocking statistic prompted his mother Beverley, and partner Orin Lewis, to start the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT).

Daniel found a match in 1999 and after a successful bone marrow transplant led a normal life.

The work of ACLT, in partnership with the Anthony Nolan Trust, was one of the key reasons for a sharp rise in new donors coming forward.

It is supported by a host of celebrities, including singers the Sugababes and Beverley Knight and football stars John Barnes and Micah Richards.

Beverley won a Pride of Britain award in 2006 for her work in promoting the shortage of ethnic minority donors.

A statement from Daniel's aunt, Janet Irons, said that its work would continue.

"This beautiful boy inspired so many of us and we will continue to illuminate the path, with his light, so others may be guided to safety."

• Leave your tributes to Daniel De Gale here