Baby battler and a hero sis

TINY Jax Robinson beams with joy as his smile is matched by sister Lacey – the girl who might just have saved his life.

This astonishing picture was taken as bone marrow taken from Lacey, three, was being transferred into nine-month-old Jax’s body.

Blissfully unaware of just how serious his leukaemia is, and the trauma their parents are going through, the tots played and watched DVDs during the threehour procedure.

The transplant was on Thursday and it will be three weeks before doctors know if it was a success.

For now, mum Katie Nicholas, and her partner Michael Robinson, both 21, live in hope. Waitress Katie, of Doncaster, South Yorks, said: “We were so scared we were going to lose Jax, so to see his big sister give him the chance to live is just incredible.

“We are so proud of her. She is amazing. Hopefully they will now be able to grow up together like any brother and sister should.”

Jax was diagnosed with a potentially fatal strain of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in September, just a week after Katie stopped breastfeeding him.

Doctors at Sheffield Children’s Hospital told Katie and Michael to prepare for the worst. Katie was in total shock. She said: “I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even cry.

“It was like my whole body had just stopped. I can only assume the anti-bodies in my breast milk had been helping him fight the leukaemia. And as soon as I stopped, it began to ravage his little body.”

Jax had a gene carried by just one in a million babies. He began chemotherapy immediately but a bone marrow transplant was still vital – and best option was a sibling donor. Katie added: “We had no choice. We explained to Lacey she would have to go for a little sleep and that afterwards she would be helping to make Jax better. She just nodded and smiled.”

Jax’s consultant, Professor Ajay Vora, had explained the risks. There is a five per cent chance cells within the bone marrow could attack Jax’s body and potentially kill him, and a 30-40 per cent chance the leukaemia could return.

They were desperately worried. Katie said: “We were terrified. Without the transplant Jax would die but it could also kill him.”

On Thursday, some 200ml of bone marrow was taken from Lacey’s hip and transferred into Jax’s main artery close to his heart.

Katie said: “As soon as Lacey came round, she sat with Jax on his bed and gave him a huge cuddle as the transplant started.

“We are so very proud of them both. They really are little miracles.”