A POORLY little boy is one step closer to having a younger brother or sister who could save his life.

Alfie Mcgurn Stewart was born with a one-in-a-million genetic condition that makes his immune system dangerously weak – meaning catching a cold could be fatal.

The six-year-old from Totton, who has x-linked hyper IgM syndrome, must endure weekly injections to give his body the strength to fight back and his only hope of a long term cure is a bone marrow transplant which matches his extremely rare tissue type.

But now thanks to a £5,141.77 donation from Windsor Castle Pub in Shirley the youngster is closer to having a ‘saviour sibling’ which his parents Chelsea Stacey and Mike Mcgurn hope will become a life-changing donor.

Natural conception doesn’t guarantee a perfect tissue match. Instead, doctors will screen and select embryos through IVF, costing £10,000 a cycle, in order to have a baby who is compatible to act as a donor for Alfie.

Stem cells from the newborn’s umbilical cord and bone marrow will be extracted and used to boost Alfie’s immune system.

The cash was raised by the pub after a 12-hour darts marathon, a raffle and donations and presented to the family by landlord Darren Hobbs, 48.

Chelsea, 22, a support worker, said: “What they did for us was amazing. We’ll use all the money for the IVF.

“We hope to start the process as soon as possible but we are currently awaiting for the license to commence as it is a specific type of IVF.

“There’s a chance it won’t work but we have been told that transplant from a sibling is more likely to match and work,” Chelsea said.

“They could find a matching one one day but this might not happen at all.”

Chelsea said they will keep raising money to help him.

For more information and to make a donation, visit crowdfunding.justgiving.com/AlfiesWish.