Belbroughton's Finley Hill, 11, fronts stem cell donor campaign

Finley Hill and his mum Jo Hill on a billboard in Nottingham

A boy who underwent two stem cell transplants is spreading awareness for more people to become donors.

Finley Hill, 11, was diagnosed in March 2019 with haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or familial HLH.

Now, he and his mum Jo Hill are appearing on billboards and trains in Birmingham and Nottingham.

"It is really upsetting to think that I wouldn't be here if those two amazing people hadn't signed up to the register," Finley said.

Finley has undergone two stem cell transplants

Finley, who is known as Finn, and his mum Jo Hill, from Belbroughton in Worcestershire, said DKMS, an international charity aiming to fight blood cancer and blood disorders, asked them both to be the face of a campaign to get more donors to sign up.

The charity got in touch with the family in September and Finley agreed to take part in the campaign, and now his face is on billboards, bus shelters and trams in Nottingham and Birmingham as well as West Midlands Railway trains.

Mrs Hill said it was a "no brainer" to be part of the campaign.

"Whenever you met anybody and you explained the need and the why and the what's involved, the overwhelming feeling was the lack of awareness," Mrs Hill said.

Finn and his mum Jo Hill said it was a "no brainer" to be part of the DMKS campaign

Finn said that all it takes is three cheek swabs that can be sent in the post, for a donor to be put on the register.

Hannah Tarrant, donor recruitment team lead, at DKMS said: "Finn from the off-set has done so much for us in the past and it's really nice for us to share successful stories.

"A lot of people have been following their story, so it's great to raise awareness in an area where people are already familiar with his story."

'Relaxed and free'

Finn, who has been raising money for DKMS, also shares his treatment journey on Facebook and Instagram.

"I want people to get the match that they deserve," he said, after his first donor match was found through a man in his 40s, from Brazil, and his second was found in Portugal.

Finn, who is part of Birmingham Youth Theatre, said that before the transplants he felt there was a "weight being put on me, and now I feel more relaxed and more free".