The old redcliffians, a rugby club situated in south bristol, are hosting a walk in swab test centre from 9am on the 24th of February in the hopes of getting one of their teammates Ellis a match for a bone marrow transplant after his devastating leukaemia diagnosis. Let’s chat to the team to find out more.
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00:00 "As Bristolians we look after our own and this is an opportunity where you can come
00:05 and look after somebody and help their family keep hold of their son and help his community
00:11 look after and keep after a friend. And first and foremost, it's the most important thing,
00:17 it's just to keep him going."
00:20 The Old Redcliffians, a rugby club situated in South Bristol, are hosting a walk in swab
00:26 test centre from 9am on the 24th February in the hopes of getting one of their team
00:32 mates, Ellis, a match for a bone marrow transplant after his devastating leukaemia diagnosis.
00:39 Let's chat to the team to find out more.
00:42 "So our dear friend Ellis has been diagnosed with leukaemia at 26 years old. I've known
00:49 Ellis for a long time now, we've played rugby together for the best part of 10 years.
00:54 It's come out of the blue but we've been pragmatic about it and there is somebody out there that
01:00 can match with Ellis specifically and right now we're doing everything we can to find
01:04 Ellis a match through this exposure for the date on the 24th. Simple cheek swab and we
01:12 can get Ellis a match and we can help as many other people as we can but our priority right
01:17 now is Ellis."
01:18 "Ellis has been recently diagnosed with leukaemia, he's in hospital at the moment and he is in
01:25 desperate need of a donor."
01:29 "Just like I imagine it did for Ellis, it flawed us. The cases are so slim, I think
01:36 a stat is there's 3,000 cases a year out of a population of 70 million. So if you look
01:41 at the chances of that, it's so rare and so slim that when you hear information like that
01:47 it does nothing but flaw you."
01:48 "Obviously now we're at the point where we need to find specific matches for Ellis so
01:56 that he can get the treatment that he needs."
01:58 "Behind the scenes, not one person has said no, not one person has stopped, not one person
02:04 has stopped thinking about it."
02:06 Ellis is not only a first team player for Old Red Cliffhands but a lifelong friend.
02:12 Let's find out more about Ellis and what you can do to help him find a match.
02:17 "Ellis is a top lad, Barra being probably one of the best players our club has had for
02:22 a long, long time. Don't know if I ever told him I said that but Ellis is just a really
02:27 nice kid, really good person to have around the club."
02:28 "He's a great character, he's one of the first names on the team sheet when he's been around
02:33 and available which hasn't been the case for a little while unfortunately with an ankle
02:37 injury and the group misses him massively. From an injury perspective, really, really
02:44 important player for us. Unfortunately we've spent our fair share of time together over
02:47 the years with different injuries but a great bloke on and off the field and a really important
02:53 part of this club."
02:54 "We never expected this for one of our own but it really goes to show how great the rugby
02:59 community is in this city. Not just the rugby community but the community in general, just
03:04 everyone's pulled together."