Little Pretoria warrior Jade (7) doing ‘great’ after marrow transplant
Donor marrow was much stronger than her body, so it started attacking her, says the girl’s father
Jade Ward, born with Fanconi anaemia which affects bone marrow and the production of blood cells, has celebrated her seventh birthday after battling the rare genetic disease for the past three years.
Last September, the Little Warrior Ward Organisation in partnership with Lazarus Motor Company in Centurion where her father Jason works, organised a blood donation day to support Jade, who was in hospital at the time, suffering from a condition which is similar to leukaemia.
Speaking to Rekord, the happy and proud father said his daughter was doing great, adding that she was well on the road to full recovery.
“The transplant started off well, but then Jade got rather severe Graft-versus-host disease, in other words, the donor marrow was much stronger than her body, so it actually started to attack her body instead of progressively taking over, so she ended up in ICU for a few weeks, but miraculously pulled through,” Ward said.
He was overjoyed at having his daughter back home and relatively healthy.
However, Ward said it was not all smooth sailing as Jade had encountered a few minor snags, but he was happy all that was behind them as a family.
“She has been at school now for a few weeks and is really enjoying being a normal seven-year-old girl. She had her first real birthday two weeks ago at school with friends, cupcakes and sweets.”
Three years ago, doctors had told her parents Jade needed a stem cell transplant to save her life, as the disease weakened her body, making her vulnerable to heart failure and brain damage, due to not getting enough oxygen in her blood.
The total cost of the surgery is believed to have been more than R2 million.
“It is difficult to give an exact cost, but the fundraiser was meant to cover medical expenses,” said Ward.
Fundraiser held to help East ‘warrior’ girl
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