Archie's Army and Barry's blood

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and one person who’s making a noise is Archie Branyik. Archie, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2023, has released a charity single to raise money for children with cancer.

Fight Song, Archie’s version of the Rachel Platten single, was released in January 2024 with funds being donated to three charities, all of which support children with cancer and their families. The song, which features Archie’s Southborough Primary School classmates, peaked at number 14 in the charts.

Archie started noticing symptoms in November 2022, his legs aching while playing football. His mum, Natalie, says the 9-year-old also had also lost weight, felt tired and had swollen lymph nodes.

With blood tests showing no signs of anything wrong, Archie was initially thought to have strep A. Natalie then noticed he had started snoring at night, which was caused by large lymph nodes on his chest. Archie was also experiencing headaches and pain in his back and legs.

After further blood tests, Archie was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

It was during his stay in hospital for a course of chemotherapy that Archie started singing and before long, he had been joined by his teacher and classmates to record Fight Song.

Thanks to treatment including platelet transfusions, Archie is now in remission and has been able to return to school.

(Picture: Archie receiving treatment for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia)

His dad, Barry, has been inspired to start giving blood himself and hopes one day to be able to donate platelets. He says “Archie wouldn’t have been able to do anything since his diagnosis if it wasn’t for the blood and platelet donors.”

Blood is made up of a number of components, including red blood cells, plasma and platelets. When donors like Barry give blood, the donation is usually separated into these different components to be used in different ways. That’s why we say 1 donation can help to save or improve up to 3 lives.

Many blood donors may not realise that their platelets are saving lives like Archie’s, but platelets are incredibly important in cancer treatment. Platelets are tiny gold-coloured cells in the blood that clot and stop bleeding.

69% of platelet donations are used to treat people with cancer, helping to prevent blood loss during chemotherapy.

Platelet donation uses a machine to extract platelets from donated blood, allowing the rest of the blood can be returned to the donor’s body. This means more platelets can be donated and donations can be made more often.

Each platelet donation can help as many as 12 children.

Because platelets are so vital, and because they last just 7 days after being donated, demand for them is high. We need more blood donors with A negative, AB negative and A positive blood types to make the switch to platelet donation.

To register your interest in becoming a platelet donor, complete the form here and we will contact you to book an assessment.