East ‘warrior’ girl’s health deteriorating
A fundraiser will be held to raise funds for her continuous medical procedures.
The health of a five-year-old Pretoria east girl living with a rare blood disorder has deteriorated quickly.
Jade Ward, from Elarduspark, was diagnosed with Fanconi anaemia, a disease that affects the bone marrow and the production of blood cells.
A bone marrow transplant would save the girl’s life and this requires a stem cell donor, which she does not have.
Her mother, Chrystal, said the girl’s health has deteriorated fast, with her now needing blood platelets every four weeks because of her bone marrow’s inability to produce blood.
“Her oxygen levels dropped dangerously low, to five. They should not be below seven because she can go into heart failure or suffer brain damage when not enough oxygen gets pumped to her brain,” she said.
“Her iron levels are dangerously high every time she gets a blood transfusion and will start damaging her organs. She has only one kidney.
“Oncologists cannot give her iron medicine as there would be more negative effects lessening her chances of survival.”
Chrystal said the sooner her daughter gets a transplant, the better; however, her age meant that she was still too weak to undergo the procedure.
“The ideal age for a transplant would have been 8-10 years, for better survival age, bodyweight way higher than her 15.8kg.
“The fact that she will receive chemotherapy to kill all her bone marrow and that she has a bad appetite worsen things.”
Jade, who is described as a warrior for putting up a fight for her life, was in and out of hospital for various procedures. To raise funds for the girl’s various medical procedures, her parents will host a fundraising event called the Noord van die Berg Fest.
The event will take place on Saturday, April 9 at Waenhuiskrans in Montana.
While their medical aid has approved funding for the donor search, Chrystal urged anyone who is healthy and between the ages of 18-35 to register with the DKMS stem cell donor registry to be a donor as Jade has no siblings.
Also read: Garsfontein skoolseun jag oud wêreldkampioen se hoogspring rekords
In 2016, Jade’s parents also lost their four-month-old son Gabriel due to congenital abnormalities.
DKMS has more than 10.6 million registered donors worldwide.
To register as a donor is a quick and simple process, which involves a non-invasive cheek swab.
Once you have registered online, a swab kit is sent to you via courier and then collected when you have completed the process.
For more information, or to register as a blood stem cell donor, please visit www.dkms-africa.org or call 0800 12 10 82, weekdays between 08:30 and 16:30.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
