A Battersea man is urging people to register as donors and potentially save lives of people with blood cancer this Christmas after his own experience.

IT worker Matthew Sealey registered with charity DKMS a year ago and within a month found that he was a lifesaving match for someone.

The 22-year-old, of Surrey Lane, was volunteering with blood cancer charity DKMS and encouraging the public to register as blood stem cell donors.

He said: “My friends and family were in shock because so many people registered on the same day as me, but they thought it was amazing that I was identified as a match for someone.

“They fully supported me and couldn't believe it happened so quickly. They thought it was a heroic act but I just knew it was something I had to do.”

Mr Sealey donated his blood stem cells through a bone marrow collection in July during a two-hour procedure after doctors took them from his hip bone under general anaesthetic.

He added: “I’m always telling people to go and register as a potential blood stem donor. You never know who you could be a match for - it could be someone's mother, brother or friend.

“If your loved ones needed a match you would be begging for a donor.

“At this time of year a second chance at life would be the best Christmas gift ever. Please take the time to register.”

DMKS says that only one in three people in need of a transplant will find a matching donor within their own family.

More than 300,000 people in the United Kingdom have registered with DKMS, however as little as five per cent have a South Asian background and three per cent are black.