Coronavirus lockdown 'helps' Finley Hill after transplant

Finley Hill's mum Jo said they now hoped the eight-year-old could enjoy a "level of normality"

The mother of a boy who underwent a life-saving stem cell transplant says being in lockdown has made them feel "less like it is only our world that is upside down".

A donor drive led to the discovery of a stem cell match for Finley Hill, eight, who has a rare immune system disorder.

After being released from hospital shortly before lockdown, he has been isolating at home in Worcestershire.

Jo Hill said his friends also being off school had made things easier.

"He's got friends constantly on Roblox, it is brilliant, he has got company all the time," Mrs Hill said.

Finley, from Belbroughton, was diagnosed in March 2019 with haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or familial HLH.

After a series of donor drives, a match was found in a man in his 40s, who lives in Brazil.

Finley underwent a stem cell transplant on 29 November last year

Initially released from Birmingham Children's Hospital at the start of January, Finley went back due to concerns over virus levels in his body and came out shortly before lockdown began.

Mrs Hill said if the family had spent more time out of hospital before lockdown, it may have felt more difficult.

"We are all in really strange times now... so at least I am in company.

"Without this pandemic, Finn would have been back at school now, our lives would returned to our new normal.

"People have said, 'Oh corona couldn't have come at a worse time for you' and, actually, for me, I think it was perfectly timed.

"This is just an extension for us, we have now been in isolation for seven months."

The eight-year-old is only likely to be able to return to school a year after his transplant happened

This week, they have been told his visits to hospital can be reduced to once a fortnight and Finley is on a waiting list to have his central line removed.

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Mrs Hill said everything was now heading "in the right direction".

"The other day we wrapped his [central line] up and he played in the paddling pool.

"I could have cried because it was Finn being an eight-year-old boy and that is all we want, for Finn to have that level of normality."