Girl hopes to save brother, 4, with bone marrow

Eva has volunteered to donate her bone marrow after being found to be a match for her brother, Harry

A nine-year-old girl is donating bone marrow to her four-year-old brother after he was diagnosed with an extremely rare and life-threatening illness.

Harry from Tamworth was recently diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, a serious condition which occurs when the bone marrow and stem cells do not produce enough blood cells.

He will now need to undergo a form of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant - which he will receive from his sister, Eva.

After a nationwide search, Eva was found to be a transplant match for Harry, and said to her mother: "Mommy can I help? Please can I do it?"

Harry has been diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, with only two in every million people believed to have the rare condition

Parents Steph and Darrel began to suspect something was wrong with their son, whose nickname is Baz, when they noticed "little bite-marks" on his chest and collarbone, as well as bruising on his legs.

They took him to a pharmacist, who recommended booking a GP appointment for him.

However, Steph said the doctors could not see him as they had no appointments.

After taking him to hospital, doctors found that his platelet levels were at 10 -Harry's mother said they should have been around 300.

Around five weeks after they first started to spot the symptoms, Harry was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia.

"It's horrific. I lost my mom when I was 12 to cancer," Steph said.

"I was brought up by her best friend and we lost her last year to breast cancer.

"I have watched my two moms go through chemotherapy and now I have to watch my four-year-old son go through it. It's broken me."

"It's broken me," Steph said about her son's diagnosis

Steph said that her daughter eagerly asked if she could donate her bone marrow after finding out she was a match for her brother.

"I can't say how proud I am. It's incredible," she told the BBC.

"She's a superhero in another way too. She's autistic. She's handled this better than some adults would have handled it."

Eva will undergo a single procedure to donate her bone marrow and doctors hope to perform the transfusion at the end of April or the beginning of May.

This will pose its own challenges, as Harry will need to be in complete isolation due to his lowered immune system and will be in hospital for around eight to ten weeks

Harry has received donations of football shirts from many well-wishers

However, Steph said that the family had been overwhelmed by support from the community.

People have also been donating football shirts to Harry, after finding out that the lightweight material does not put pressure on his chest, where he has had a central line inserted.

The four-year-old now boasts a collection of Birmingham City, Chelsea, Everton, Rangers, Wolves, and England shirts, which he wears for his hospital appointments.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family financially, as Harry's father Darrel has had to give up his job to look after Harry and be with him in hospital.

"Without it, we'd probably be homeless," Steph said, as costs have been mounting up, including £11 per day hospital car park charges.

They have also been supported by Mitch Middleton, a gas engineer from Tamworth who was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

"He messages Darrel in the middle of the night when he knows he's in hospital with Harry.

"He's been a big, big support for my family. He's been incredible."