100 people join stem cell register to help man

Marshall Davies was told in December he would need a stem cell transplant

One hundred people have signed up to the stem cell register to see if they are a match for a man who has blood cancer.

Marshall Davies, 21, of Telford was diagnosed with a rare form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2023, and in December was told it had progressed to stage four, and he would need a donor.

Two events in his home town saw the sign-ups. One was held at an AFC Telford United game and the second at an event for car enthusiasts.

"We signed up 46 at the football match, then on Sunday we attended Defined Detail, we signed up 54 people," said Gemma Elsmore from the Race Against Blood Cancer charity.

Two events saw 100 people sign up to the stem cell register

Ms Elsmore said: "It was fantastic, really good atmosphere, there was a lot of fans that had already signed up to the stem cell register because they had seen our posts on social media, which is fantastic really because it just shows you the power of social media.

She added the cheek swab kits had been sent off and results would take a number of weeks.

"Hopefully from that hundred, even if it wasn't a match for Marshall, there could be a match for somebody else," she told the BBC.

"It was great to get the community together and show the support for Marshall which he deserves."

Rhys Fenton who organised the car event at Defined Detail, has children who are close friends with Marshall.

"We can't just sit there and not do anything, fortunately we've got connections with the car club... so we thought we'd get them all in to do the right thing," he said.

"Everybody turned up, we all had a good get together, a good natter, and of course we were all able to sign up to the donor drive.

"It was really, really special, it was a good day."