GIFT OF LIFE
Amber to donate stem cells to save wee brother Angus
This is Angus Brodie.
He is four.
His sister Amber is 10.
Later this month she will hopefully save his life.
She will donate the stem cells in her bone marrow after being declared a perfect match for him.
Angus has leukaemia and his condition has worsened.
Since May he has been living in hospital.
His remarkable family and friends are rallying round.
Amber has the chance to offer him the ultimate gift. For the full heart- tugging story, turn to page 5
The doctors are throwing everything they can at the rogue cells, bombarding him with radiation and pounding his immune system with drugs.
And when Angus Brodie is at his very weakest, big sister Amber will be there for him.
Later this month she will donate stem cells to her four- year- old brother who is battling leukemia. For Amber, ten, it is the greatest gift she can give her ailing wee brother.
She will undergo an operation under general anaesthetic to remove her healthy cells from the bone marrow in her hips. Their father Alastair, 40, said: “Both Angus and Amber are gearing up for the transplant later this month. “A sibling donor is actually quite a rare thing, but fortunately Amber was a match. “The hard work is preparing Angus for the transplant - the doctors have to grind the body down to its bare minimum.
“He is getting intensive chemotherapy and taken to the Beatson in Glasgow for radiation treatment.
“Once the healthy cells are transplanted from Amber there is an unknown period of acceptance and recovery.”
Angus has been confined to a hospital room since May in a summer of hell for the Brodie family.
He’d already been diagnosed with leukemia aged two and had been beating it.
But some poor routine blood results saw him whisked back into the Shiehallion unit at the Glasgow Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
He’s now in his fifth month in his room, constant l y accompanied by his devoted mum Louisa, 40.
Asked how the family are coping, Alastair said: “It is hard to put it into words. It is incredibly life- changing, earth- shattering and very, very tough.
“But we are soldiering on and take inspiration from the children who are suffering from these horrendous diseases.”
It was in May 2016 that Angus was diagnosed with leukemia cancer and had been getting on well, despite various ups and downs. Leukemia is the cancer of the body’s blood- forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.
But in May this year Angus relapsed - and this is what “galvinised the troops” for a fundraiser for the hospital, says Alastair. Fundraisers at Wellington School in Ayr have now gathered more than £ 11,300 for the unit and handed over the cheque last Monday.
The initial target of £ 3000 had been quickly “smashed out the park.”
Alastair and Louisa, who live in Ayr, have a third child Aaran, who has also been involved in the fundraising drive for the Shiehallion ward.
A total of 48 friends in primary 7 and second year at Wellington School scaled Goat Fell on Arran.
Teacher Mr Jimmy Cox got in on the act and has climbed Munros, while the nursery arranged a superhero day and the junior school raffled a huge teddy called Brodie.
Wellington parent Claire Robinson said: “The children felt so helpless seeing what the Brodie family were going through, that they wanted to organised an event.
“Everybody is backing the Brodies.”
Wee Angus is said to be a “fighter” and his spirits are reasonably good.
But Alastair, who works in internet commerce, added: “Due to him being so immuno suppressed he gets bugs and viruses very easily, so he is very much up and down.
“It is amazing to see all the backing for Angus and the kindness and spirit out there. All the family have been touched by it and we are all so grateful for the support.
“If the transplant is a success, Angus will be in isolation in the hospital for quite some time while his immune system is re- built.”
Amber is proud to be helping her brother, but is now getting “quite nervous” of the procedure ahead.
Medics had to ask her why she was willing to donate her cells, in case she was being coerced.
But she immediately responded: “To save my wee brother’s life.”