The family used social media to find a donor and even arranged giant billboards in cities across Britain urging people to come forward. Their cause was also taken up by the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
As a result, there has been a huge increase in the number of Asians applying to donate bone marrow. More than 3,000 Asian people have applied to join the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan's register, compared to 150 people in the same period last year.
“The campaign was never just about finding a donor for Gaurav. It was about ensuring that there will be matching donors for years to come - for our children's families and grandchild's families,” said Sunny.
“Asian patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant still have just a 40 per cent chance of finding a match,” said Bhaveshree Chandegra, the Asian recruitment manager at Anthony Nolan.
“It is so important that more Asian people sign up as bone marrow donors so that we can help more people like Gaurav in the future and so that no family has to go through an agonising wait to find out if they have a match,” Chandegra said.
Updated on: November 23, 2013 10:56 IST
