The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Leukaemia toddler Finn saved by 50 strangers
stonehaven: Mum praises blood and bone marrow donors
Brave toddler Finn Mackin is too young to know that the selfless actions of more than 50 strangers saved his life.
Devoted mum Siobhan Rolinson and dad Stephen Mackin will forever be grateful to all the people who donated blood and bone marrow to save their son.
The courageous Mearns two-year-old was struck down with a rare and deadly form of leukaemia when he was just 11 months old.
It caused tumours to grow behind his eye and on his brain.
Against all odds the tot is now cancer free, after a life-saving bone marrow transplant and at least 50 blood transfusions – all before he was two.
Finn, who will be three in February, also endured a year of gruelling cancer treatment, more than 40 general anaesthetics and months at a time in isolation in hospitals in Aberdeen and Glasgow.
His mum is now appealing for Scots to give blood and join the bone marrow register.
The 30-year-old from Stonehaven said: “Without all these donors, Finn definitely would not have made it.
“There were some times he needed blood transfusions every day for a few days. He must have had about 50 in total, as well as platelet transfusions.
“And without the bone marrow transplant they said his cancer would have come back really quickly.
“We were very lucky because Finn had loads of matches available to him and he got the perfect match.
“So if this one had fallen though, there were others waiting. But some people can’t even get one match.”
She continued: “Through it all, Finn never once moaned or was grumpy.
“We are now looking forward to Christmas. We couldn’t really get excited last year because he was just out of hospital and he wasn’t allowed to be around other kids.”
To register as a donor visit www. dkms.org.uk.