The African Caribbean Leukemia Trust (ACLT) was established in June 1996 by Beverley De -Gale and Orin Lewis, parents of former Leukemia sufferer Daniel De-Gale.
The 2 Co-Founders have personally sacrificed their lives to the work of the ACLT and have achieved great life saving results during the last 13 years.
• At the time when Daniel needed a bone marrow transplant to survive, there were just 550 black or mixed race people on the UK bone marrow register, giving Daniel a 1 in 250,000 chance of finding a compatible donor. If he was white, his chances would be much closer to 1 in 5. This was due to the low numbers of the Black community on the UK bone marrow registers. Undeterred by this injustice in numbers due to ignorance, apathy and miscommunication, Daniel’s parents decided to find a match themselves and the fledgling ACLT was born.
• On 16th June 1999, 12 year-old Daniel received a bone marrow transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London from a matched unrelated donor from Detroit USA.
• Daniel was in remission , but however due to complications with his health that led to multiple organ failure he died on the 8th October 2008 in hospital surrounded by his family. He was 21 years of age.Toady, the founders continue to drive the ACLT forward and recently they passed the milestone of 25,000 donors and at least 25 lives saved.
• The Duchess of York has been a Patron for the ACLT since its inception in 1996, contributing greatly to a charity that’s so close to her heart.
Her invaluable role in helping the ACLT earn the recognition it needs and deserves is a standing testament to her commitment to the cause. The Duchess is now taking Daniel’s place in spearheading their campaign and getting the words of the ACLT spread.
