Emma Edwards, mum to Sophie from Huddersfield West Yorkshire, is calling on donors to join the Anthony Nolan register after pioneering treatment using stem cells from a stranger saved her child’s life.
Sophie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) aged just 7, in February 2008. She had been getting colds and seemed run down, but mum Emma assumed it was the result of a busy term at Primary School and she would pick up soon.
However, one Sunday night, Emma noticed that Sophie had developed red spots and fearing meningitis, she rushed her to A&E. Blood tests showed that Sophie had ALL, as a result of having a fault gene, the Philadelphia Chromosome. Her parents were told that a bone marrow transplant was Sophie’s only chance of a cure.
‘I hadn’t really heard anything about leukaemia or bone marrow transplants before. I suppose until it’s happening to you, you’re sort of blinded to it.’ Emma said.
Sophie had to undergo chemotherapy, waiting for Anthony Nolan to find her a lifesaving matching donor. Her leukaemia was particularly aggressive and doctors prepared her parents for the worst. Thankfully, after a tense wait of several months, a donor in the UK was found and Sophie’s transplant was scheduled for October 2008.
‘When the bag of stem cells arrived I thought to myself, how can that save her life?’, Emma said. ‘It wasn’t even a full pint of blood, and we just didn’t understand how Sophie’s life could be hanging on this small bag.’
After a slow recovery Sophie was home for Christmas. But the New Year proved difficult and Sophie’s parents again realised their daughter was struggling. At this point they were told the transplant had failed and Sophie was deteriorating quickly. There wasn’t time for Anthony Nolan to schedule another donation, so the doctors decided to progress with a trial treatment.
‘They sat me and my husband down and explained that this was a new treatment, never before done on a child. The initial donation had produced more stem cells than they needed so they’d kept some back. There was no time to treat the cells before they were put into Sophie, so the whole procedure was incredibly risky,’ Emma said. ‘But to us there was no decision; it was this or losing our little girl.’
Incredibly, Sophie pulled through and was able to return to school part-time in April 2010, after missing nearly two and a half years of education while she underwent her treatment in hospital.
Now Sophie is progressing well, loving her High School and making lots of new friends. Her particular passions are art and science. Mum Emma has just one last appeal to make: ‘If you can give something so small to save someone’s life, there can be no better thing. Our donor gave Sophie that chance, that hope of life. We knew they’d tried their absolute best to save our child no matter what and that is truly amazing. I can’t thank them enough.’
To join the Anthony Nolan register, you need to be between the ages of 16–30 and in good health. All potential donors stay on the register until the age of 60 and may be called to donate at any point during this time.