| Gift of life for Irish schoolgirl
A London-Irish girl born with a medical condition never before encountered
by doctors has been given the gift of life by an anonymous donor.
Rhiannon Fuller, whose grandparents hail from Limerick and Kerry, is the
only know person in the world suffering from both cystic fibrosis and
aplastic anaemia.
Mum Marie Galvin, who lives in Harlesden, North West London, described
the journey her six-year-old daughter has faced since birth.
She said: “She was diagnosed at four months with cystic fibrosis.
“Then in January this year she went in for normal antibiotics and
they found she had no platelets or anything in her blood.
“Eventually they found her bone marrow was completely empty.”
Rhiannon was rushed by ambulance to Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children where she was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia a condition often
referred to as bone marrow failure. Marie said: “Great Ormond Street
had never had another child with both illnesses at the same time so they
didn’t have any way of knowing how to treat her.”
But ultimately it was an anonymous bone marrow donor that would become
the young girl’s saviour.
Marie said: “She needed a bone marrow transplant but no family member
was compatible. So she went on the national bone marrow donor register
and amazingly they found a 41-year-old man in London and she had the transplant
performed.”
Since returning home Rhiannon has had a number of other serious infections
but is finally improving and now thrilled that her hair is starting to
grow back. |
