Best birthday present for Joshua as he gets bone marrow transplant

AS Moira schoolboy Joshua Fletcher celebrated his eighth birthday last Wednesday, he got the best present ever from his little sister Jodie - bone marrow for a life saving transplant.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Feb 2010, 10:00 BST
Updated 18th Feb 2010, 14:25 BST

Four-year-old Jodie is Joshua's so called Saviour Sibling. Joshua suffers from Diamond Blackfan Anaemia and the transplant from his sister took place at St. Mary's Hospital in London.

Doctors will know within in the next few days whether the procedure has worked.

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Jodie flew to London with her grandmother and auntie and just before the procedure at 9am last Wednesday morning she handed Joshua 41 handmade birthday cards from all his friends P4 and his teacher at Meadowbridge Primary School.

Friends say that though it is too early to say whether the operation has worked everything is going 'according to plan'.

Joshua was diagnosed with the condition when he was just six weeks old and at the time his parents Joe and Julie were told that the only chance for survival would be a bone marrow transplant. As older brother Adam was not a match his parents were told that an exact match would have to be created in order for Joshua to survive.

His parents went through a battle with the HFEA to allow them to go through the procedue of selected embryo to conceive a saviour sibling for Joshua. Jodie was born on July 2005 and last summer Joshua was told that due to the overload on his liver it was now time for the bone marrow transplant to take place.

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Friend Gaye Kerr said Joshua is continuing to be monitored regularly but that he still had a long road to recovery.

"At present all is going according to plan and Josh continues to be monitored on a regular basis," she said. "He has been unable to keep food down and has now a feeding tube in place to help keep his body weight up.

"Hopefully over the next few days, although he will become increasingly unwell, Jodie's bone marrow will start to work.

"Josh will continue to receive small quantities of chemotherapy to surpress his own bone marrow to enable Jodie's to take over.

"Prayers for the Fletcher Family continue in the schools and churches in the Moira area, and we continue to send Josh our love and best wishes for the months ahead."

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