Crowd-funding for East girl (4) with rare condition

A family wants to raise R200 000 through crowd-funding to pay for a transplant that could save their four-year-old daughter’s life.

Jade Ward was diagnosed with Fanconi anaemia, a disease that affects the bone marrow and the production of blood cells.

To live, Jade will need a bone marrow transplant which the family said could cost thousands.

Her father, Jason, said it was difficult to give an exact figure of how much the procedure would cost, but the girl’s crowd-funding was aiming to cover her medical costs that would not be covered by their medical aid.

“The biggest expense in this whole process depends on when, and where, they find a compatible donor; obviously, if it is outside South African borders, which it most likely will be, the more the costs,” he said.

“Our current medical expenses are our monthly visits to her paediatrician which is about R700 for consultation, visits to her endocrinologist which is about R800 for consultation, regular blood tests which are around R1 000 per test,” he said.

The most expensive procedure the girl has to go through daily is her growth hormone injections, which costs R4 000 every month.

Even though these injections were meant to assist the young girl, Jason said the girl has severe trauma from the daily injections and a fear of hospitals and medical processes, which prompted them to get psychological help for her.

Jason said the family’s biggest expense this year was the chromosome breakage test that was conducted to diagnose the actual Fanconi anaemia, which was over R20 000.

“On top of that, the Covid-19 tests every time we go into hospital are paid cash at around R600 per test,” he said.

He said a few possible donor matches have been found overseas.

More specific tests needed to be done to check compatibility to reduce the risk of donor rejection.

However, he still urged people to register to donate their stem cells with the Sunflower fund (DKMS) and increase her daughter’s chance of getting a perfect match.

“The oncologists at Unitas hospital say her marrow is stable for now with no major decline. Thus, we are not critically pressed for time, which means we can pay attention to detail and ensure a perfect match,” he said.

“So far, she is doing relatively well. She has just started a new pre-primary school and they are looking after her. She loves her friends and the stimulation.”

Click on the link to donate: www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/baby-jade-ward

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