Little boy (5) who suffers from rare blood disorder has Christmas wish come true!
This is the story of how Miquel Willemse, who suffers from the rare blood condition severe haemophilia, had his Christmas wish come true, courtesy of the Dagpatrollie.
In 2020, Christelle Willemse took her son Miquel (now five) to the local clinic for what was supposed to be a regular injection, everything went as planned, until Miquel wouldn’t stop bleeding.
That was the day he was diagnosed with severe haemophilia, which my.clevelandclinic.org defines as ‘a rare, inherited blood disorder that causes your blood to clot less, which results in an increased risk of bleeding or bruising’.
Christelle explained to the Middelburg Observer how her and Miquel’s lives have changed since his diagnosis.
“He bruises very easily, so people are quick to point fingers, thinking he has been abused. I was instructed by the haematologist to always carry Miquel’s file to make life a little easier.”
She said that she can understand the perspective of those who express concern, as her son’s bruises are more visually alarming than that of other children. This is due to the excessive bleeding that happens underneath Miquel’s skin.
According to John Hopkins Medicine, “Bleeding can occur even with minimal activities of daily life. Bleeding may also occur from no known injury. Bleeding most often occurs in the joints, muscles, and in the head.”
In addition to haemophilia, Miquel has ADHD and is prone to seizures.
Naturally, this has made Christelle extremely protective over Miquel, “I am always worrying when he is not by my side. I have to be more wary of the little things, such as Miquel playing with other children.”
“If he falls and cuts himself, he has to go to the hospital, otherwise the bleeding won’t stop. If another child sees this, they become afraid of him, which is totally understandable! It is a scary thing for a child to witness, but the unfair reality is that for Miquel, this is a normal part of his life.”
On account of his frequent trips to the emergency room, Miquel has become afraid of hospitals. Described as a ‘loving boy’ who loves having friends around him, these lengthy excursions at the state hospital can be draining.
As a result of his condition, Christelle had to stop working to take care of her son, and because of the mounting hospital fees and associated risks, school has been out of the question.
“He loves being around other children, he is always asking me to go to school. I am praying that something will change in the new year, as it breaks my heart as a mother for him not to experience the things every little boy should.”
In the build up to Christmas, Miquel saw a boy riding a toy Checkers Sixty60 bike around the area he resides, and immediately became enamoured.
Whenever he sees a driver deliver parcels, he gets all giddy and exclaims, “Checkers! Checkers!”
All little Miquel wanted for Christmas was a Checkers bike, and this is where the Dagpatrollie stepped in.
Fittingly, as Christmas is the season of giving, the Dagpatrollie had already conducted a special sweet run, with live updates from their WhatsApp group, giving candy to kids across Middelburg.
Upon becoming aware of Miquel’s situation, the Dagpatrollie’s Arthur Hill and Co. concocted a plan to spread some more festive cheer.
Arriving at the Willemse household on December 24 with toys, sweets, and even Santa himself, Miquel was overwhelmed with glee.
But, the Dagpatrollie had one more trick up their sleeve…
Once he saw the Checkers bike, Miquel became positively obsessed!
- For Miquel, these types of bikes without the pedals are far safer. There is less chance for him to fall, and his previous experiences with the seats of other bikes have left him with bruises.
Hill said that the encounter with Miquel was heartwarming, “He was absolutely flabbergasted. To see the impact we made on his life first-hand was so special. Seeing Miquel so happy zooming around, especially after learning about what he has had to overcome… It got me. There were a few of us big guys with tears in our eyes.”
Hill further stated that Miquel had never seen Santa before, so it became a priority for the Dagpatrollie to get a costume and let Miquel experience the true meaning of Christmas.
Christelle told the Middelburg Observer that he has not gone a moment without playing with his gift, in fact, Miquel parks the bike in his room every night to make sure it is ready to go in the morning.
“I just want to say thank you to the Dagpatrollie, you guys are awesome! We are so grateful, the only thing Miquel has to say is ‘Dankie!’.”
@middelburgobserver Arthur Hill and the Dagpatrollie helped make little Miquel Willemse’s (5) Christmas wish come true! Miquel suffers from a rare blood disorder (severe haemophilia) and asked for a Checkers Sixty60 bike to play like the other boys
