The father of a toddler with a rare life-threatening condition has released an “urgent appeal” for residents with Korean, Japanese or Chinese heritage to come forward as a stem cell donor.

Andrew Kim’s 2-year-old son Alastair, who is of Korean descent, was diagnosed with ultra-rare genetic disease chronic granulomatous disorder (CGD) in February last year, which wipes out the immune system meaning the slightest infection leaves him seriously ill.

His only hope of a cure is a bone marrow stem cell donor, but the person would most likely have to be of Korean, Japanese or Chinese heritage to meet the 90 per cent genetic match needed.

Dad Andrew, 36, a medical research engineer, said: "Ally loves kicking the football, dancing, and trying to jump although he can’t actually get off the ground.

"He has been in and out of hospital all of his life and doctors have put him at the top of the list for a transplant - but first he needs a match.

“They had only seen two cases of CGD in the last 10 years, so it hadn't even registered as a possibility before that.”

New Malden has the largest Korean population outside of Korea and it is hoped that a donor can be found there.

Mr and Mrs Kim, who live near Longworth with their other son Micah, five, were unable to find any match when they searched the international register of more than four million donors.

The family are hosting a drop in event at New Malden Methodist Church on Saturday, January 21, from 10am to 4pm in the hope of finding a donor.

Visit cgdsociety.org for more information.