A TRAGIC Quinton schoolboy's last wish came true when he wed his childhood sweetheart in an emotional ceremony in hospital just days before dying of cancer.

Omar Al-Shaikh, aged 16, married teen girlfriend Amie Cresswell in a service at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital just three days before he passed away on Monday (June 22).

Friends of the young couple say the wedding ceremony, held last Friday, was "really lovely" and lifted the spirits of Omar who had been given little hope of survival without a bone marrow transplant.

The Anthony Nolan charity had launched an urgent appeal in March to encourage people to sign up to the transplant register in the hope of finding a suitable donor for the schoolboy, from Madison Avenue, as his mixed Asian/Romanian heritage made it difficult to find the right match.

Hundreds of people signed up to register in a desperate bid to help and an umbilical cord match is believed to have been found.

But Omar, who moved to England from Jordan in 2013, reportedly became too unwell to undergo a transplant and he lost his courageous fight for life just days after posting a poignant last Facebook post telling friends and relatives he had just days left to live and thanking them for their support and help.

Omar's mum Mirabela Al-Shaikh, originally from Romania, said her son's story had touched people's hearts in the UK and abroad and she hoped it would prompt as many more people to sign up as potential donors.

A friend of the tragic teen, Matthew Williams, described Omar as a "fantastic boy" and said: "He will be missed so much by his friends and family."

Matthew is now trying to raise awareness and funds for the Anthony Nolan charity in memory of Omar, whose funeral was held on Tuesday, and is collecting donations online through a JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/Find-A-Match-For-Omar/ Meanwhile friend Jo Khalaf, who got to know Omar while her son was receiving treatment in hospital, has launched a crowd-funding campaign to help the tragic teen's family cover the costs of his funeral and a headstone and she added: "We're still raising money to help his mom."

She said it had been "really lovely" that the popular youngster had been able to marry the girl he loved and added: "Omar was always kind and caring to everyone he met and always had a smile on his face."

Omar, who was a student at Four Dwellings Academy in Quinton, had received the all-clear last October after an initial fight against leukaemia but was told earlier this year that the deadly disease had returned and his only hope was a bone marrow transplant.

A Facebook page called Finding the Match for Omar was set up to encourage people to sign up as potential donors and a spokesman for Anthony Nolan said as a result of publicity 368 people from Birmingham and the Black Country registered between March 30 and April 13 - and 48.5 per cent were from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The charity's chief executive Henny Braund said: “Everyone at Anthony Nolan was deeply saddened to hear of the heart-breaking death of Omar.

“Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his family and we are thinking of them at this extremely difficult time.

“Omar was an extremely brave and humble young man who inspired huge numbers of potential donors to join the Anthony Nolan register.

“Consequently, he leaves behind a truly lifesaving legacy which will continue to have a positive impact on the lives of others for many decades to come.”

Log onto website www.anthonynolan.org to find out more about becoming a bone marrow donor.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to help the family can do so online at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/jo-khalaf-1