Teen with rare blood disorder gets vital transplant

A teenager with a rare blood disorder is "taking things day by day" after receiving a life-saving stem cell transplant, her mother has said.

Millie, from Eastbourne in East Sussex, was diagnosed with severe aplastic anaemia days after her 13th birthday last year, prompting her family's global search for a donor.

A few weeks ago, she underwent the surgery she needed after a suitable match was found in the US.

"She still has a way to go, but things are already looking brighter," her mother, Hayley, said.

Thought to affect about two people in every million in the UK, Millie's condition means her bone marrow cannot generate enough new blood cells for her body to function normally, making it hard to fight infection, staunch any bleeding or carry oxygen.

Forced to isolate, either at home or at Brighton Royal Children's Hospital, Millie was told by doctors that she would need a stem cell transplant in order to recover.

Hayley called her daughter's shock diagnosis "devastating", especially since nobody in the family proved to be a compatible donor.

So began a scouring of the global stem cell registers to find someone who was a match – a hunt that ended in December.

"I didn't want to get my hopes up, but thanks to that man from the US, Millie was finally able to have her transplant," Hayley said.

"It went well, but we're just taking things day by day.

"We feel more positive for the future and hope before long Millie can start living a more normal life."

With Thursday marking World Blood Cancer Day, charity DKMS UK is urging more people to take action and join their stem cell donor register.

Having campaigned to help find a donor for Millie, the charity said that 2.9% of 16 to 55-year-olds in the South East were on their database, which is lower than the UK average of 3.1%.

"Most people will never be called upon to donate, but signing up means that you could offer someone a lifeline in their time of greatest need," DKMS UK's Bronagh Hughes said.

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