A nine-year-old boy who wants to save his younger sister’s life by donating his bone marrow will have to wait after she caught Covid-19, their parents said.
Luke, who is nicknamed LJ, from Pinchbeck in Lincolnshire, was found to be a match for six-year-old Destiny who was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called sideroblastic anemia in 2020.
Destiny requires regular blood transfusions for her condition, which could be life-limiting, and was due to have surgery last week.
Her mother Kayleigh, 31, said: “I’ll wake up one morning and she’s not with us anymore. Or she could go a few more years.”
The mother-of-seven said she had noticed her daughter was not achieving her milestones of sitting, crawling or eating from the age of six months.
She said: “She was just so petite, very tiny and she’d just sit in a little chair.”
Kayleigh’s health visitor saw Destiny and recommended she had an urgent blood test to get a diagnosis.
“I just cried because it was just a big worry because we didn’t know what it was,” she said.
Kayleigh said her siblings get frustrated because they want to include Destiny in activities but both she and her husband Luke do not want her to hurt herself.
She said the bone marrow transplant could cure her condition but without it her health could deteriorate.
“So I’ll wake up one morning and she’s not with us anymore. Or she could go a few more years,” she said.
According to the NHS, sideroblastic anaemia is a disorder where the body produces enough iron but is unable to put it into the haemoglobin.
Kayleigh said LJ was the only bone marrow match for Destiny in the family of nine.
“He’s happy and obviously it took a lot first. We wanted to make sure he’s happy,” she said.
Kayleigh added the donation could strengthen the bond between Destiny and LJ.
She said the children had made “special boxes” so they could remember what they had done for each other when they are older.
Destiny was about to go into surgery when she tested positive for Covid-19, her mother said.
She said: “It was quite a struggle for me and my partner because we knew the transplant would be off as she’s got Covid.”
If everything goes to plan, Destiny’s tranplant will be rearranged for 2 September, her mother said.
Kayleigh added: “Destiny is a very happy, beautiful girl. She’s brave, strong.”
