Toddler in urgent need of donor
AGOLF-MAD toddler with a life-limiting blood disorder has just months to find a successful stem cell transplant donor. Arlo McArthur, three, was first diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome when he was just 10 weeks old.
The only potential cure was through a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor, which was unsuccessful. Now Arlo’s disease has returned and he needs a second transplant to survive.
The youngster’s family, from Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, are appealing for people to support blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan in raising urgent funds to add more donors to the stem cells register and give their little boy the best possible chance of survival.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the charity’s fundraising activity and a large number of people joining the charity’s register means there is a backlog of around 25,000 potential donors.
The charity needs to £500,000 to fund its work. raise
Any one of the 25,000 people who have applied to join the Anthony Nolan could be a match for Arlo, who loves golf.
Nicole McArthur, Arlo’s mum, said: “He first got into watching it with his dad Ian on TV. We took him to a driving range, and he was actually quite good. So, we bought him clubs for his birthday and it kind of went from there.”
The 37-year-old realised there was something wrong with Arlo when he was only two weeks old. She said: “We rushed him to A&E after he vomited a blood clot. Doctors initially diagnosed a severe cow’s milk allergy and sent us home.
“Later he vomited again, and we found blood in his poo so we returned to A&E. It was suggested that it may be leukaemia as his platelets were so low. After that was ruled out, we waited weeks for a diagnosis.
“He was diagnosed in November, they started searching the register, and a donor match was found for him on December 22.
“The donor was American, and the stem cells were flown over to us on February 28. Their landing in
Heathrow unfortunately coincided with a massive snowstorm. They closed Heathrow and airports in Scotland, so the cells got stuck.
“We were so worried that we tried to charter a helicopter. Finally, we managed to get an Uber to drive the cells to Scotland.”
Arlo’s transplant was successful, and the cells were engrafting. But that started to change, and his engraftment started to drop with each check in.
Nicole added: “The doctor said this was extremely rare. But Arlo doesn’t play by the book. Arlo does the opposite of what the book says.
“We were told he was in need of a second transplant or his quality of life would drop. I thought this meant he wouldn’t be able to play football with the other kids, but it turns out that it was much more serious than this.
“Doctors did not want to risk using the same donor for Arlo. There were two other matches on the register for him, but neither were suitable. As they were both older donors, doctors didn’t want to take the risk. I was gobsmacked as initially there were three potential donors, now there were none.
“The best-case scenario was Arlo would have a full sibling match, but this wasn’t possible as Arlo only has half-sisters. The next preferable thing would be a matching unrelated young male donor, but we know we don’t have that.
“Arlo’s dad is a haplo, a half match, so if we can’t find an unrelated donor, we’re going with that because if we don’t, the alternative is much worse.”
Anthony Nolan recruits people aged 16-30 to the stem cell register as research has shown younger people are more likely to be chosen to donate. To join the register, or to donate, visit anthonynolan.org.