A PENSIONER who decided to mark his 70th birthday with donations, rather than gifts, has helped a young leukaemia survivor to raise funds for research.
Maurice Cook, of Woodlands Way, Hurworth, near Darlington, raised £810 with a joint party at Hurworth Grange to celebrate his birthday and that of his 40-year-old son, Gordon.
Mr Cook gave £400 to the leukaemia unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital, and when he heard Michael Fogarty, 11, was collecting for Leukaemia Research, he contributed the rest to him.
Michael endured ten months of chemotherapy before a bone marrow transplant in May 2001.
With his parents he has produced a booklet about his fight for survival, which has raised more than £600 for the charity.
Called Michael's Story - Life, Leukaemia, Life, it is available from Ottakar's bookshop in Darlington.
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