A San Francisco family with a direct link to Big Jim Larkin have launched an appeal in Ireland to find a bone marrow donor for their gravely ill son.

Six-year-old Jake Larkin needs to find a suitable donor as he battles a rare Aplastic Anemia condition.

His Irish American parents are now praying that the family’s roots can help them source a suitable bone marrow donor in Ireland.

And they have admitted to the Irish Sun newspaper: “We’re almost out of time.”

Jake celebrated his sixth birthday at home in San Francisco last week, just months after he was diagnosed with the rare disease in February.

Jim Larkin’s great-great-grandson is ‘living on borrowed time’ according to his worried parents Kim and Bob.