DJ Swing, a member of London’s Boogie Bunch DJ crew, passed away last night (March 22) after losing his battle with bone marrow cancer.
Prior to his passing, DJ Swing’s (born Brian Daley) friends and family, along with DJs around the UK, including Mista Jam from BBC 1Xtra, started a campaign to search for suitable bone marrow donors.
The drive turned clubs into donor clinics to mobilize the British black community to give blood.
Last year, a major UK television station, Channel Four, also launched a documentary to contribute to the campaign and follow DJ Swing’s path to recovery.
Statistics show that finding an Afro Caribbean match in the UK are one in 100,000.
On Nov. 10, 2005, DJ Swing had a bone marrow transplant with a 90% matching donor.
At the time, it was reported that the transplant procedure went well with no complications.
DJ Swing was known as one of the most successful DJs in the UK during the ’80s and ’90s.
He also won the Best DJ MOBO Award, beating out Fatboy Slim and Tim Westwood and hosted regular events around the UK.