A STUDENT who registered as a potential bone marrow donor to try to save Colchester cricketer Rob George has been found as a match for a six-year-old boy.

Jake Claydon, 18, underwent a procedure in London to donate his bone marrow to the little boy last week.

He joined the Anthony Nolan register at an event in Castle Park in 2013, set up in a bid to find a match for his friend Rob, 21, who had leukaemia.

Even though he was not a match for Rob, Jake, who studies at both Thurstable and Philip Morant colleges, decided to stay on the list and in January received a call saying he was a match.

He said: “I was just over the moon. I was really excited. It is helping to give someone a chance.”

In the lead up to the procedure, Jake had injections to increase the amount of bone marrow he was producing.

For the operation, he travelled to London and spent four hours having the marrow removed from his blood.

He said: “They just hooked me up and away it went.

“It is like a dialysis machine.”

Jake left hospital that evening and spent the weekend recovering. He is due to return to college, where he is studying maths and taking a Btec in sport, today. He said: “I’m just very tired, but I’m fine.”

Rob was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011.

He needed a transplant, but there were no matches on the existing register, so his family decided to hold a registration event in a bid to find a donor.

Jake’s sister, Abi, was friends with Rob, so their whole family attended the event in Castle Park in September 2013 to try to find him a match. But they did not find one and Rob passed away in December that year.

Rob’s mum, Lorraine, said: “I’m so proud of Jake and all the young people who put themselves forward.

“Rob was all about helping other people. What an amazing gift to the whole family.”