Seven-Year-Old Boy Inspires “Potter” Stars to Join Stem Cell Registry
After hearing the story of seven-year-old Finley Hill, Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Grint’s actress girlfriend, Georgia Groome, James Phelps (Fred Weasley), and Oliver Phelps (George Weasley) have taken action to raise awareness and register as stem cell donors. Grint, Groome, and James Phelps have registered as donors. Oliver Phelps urged his Twitter followers to register as donors by retweeting a message from Hill’s mother.
After seeing @FinnTheFabulou1 asking for more people to see if they could be a blood donor. So I requested a kit online and it came 2 days later. And it only took 5 minutes to do, just a swab if the mouth. Please check it out. https://t.co/S0skZP7KNc pic.twitter.com/6ZOAlpgkrr
— James Phelps (@James_Phelps) May 31, 2019
Hill and his parents appeared on This Morning to discuss his condition, an incredibly rare genetic disorder called familial HLH that only affects five people in the world, including Finn. Hill is in desperate need of a stem cell donor, so he and his family are raising awareness and encouraging people to join the donation registry. Only 2% of the population of the United Kingdom and 0.4% of the world population are on the stem cell donation registry.
In addition to joining the registry, Grint and Groome also sent Hill some Harry Potter glasses and a signed copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with the inscription “To Finn the Fabulous, wishing you all the magic in the world.”
Thank you so much for my signed #harrypotter book and glasses @Georgia_Groome and Rupert. Also thank you for doing your swabs & joining the @DKMS_uk register. Super kind of you both, we think you’re magic.Lots of love Finn #magic @jk_rowling #stemcells #donor #beahero #savealife pic.twitter.com/Qfk90Qckkj
— FinnTheFabulous (@FinnTheFabulou1) June 12, 2019
You don’t have to be a wizard or a movie star to save a life by becoming a stem cell donor. To join the registry, people age 18 to 55 and in general good health can take three cheek swabs either by requesting a swab kit or attending a donor drive event. You can find out more information about joining the registry and request a kit via DKMS.
