THE mum of a “little warrior” who died after battling leukaemia three times has urged people to register as bone marrow donors.
Pamela Neilson yesterday pledged her support to the Save Ava campaign. Ava Stark, three, of Lochgelly, Fife, has inherited bone marrow failure and is in desperate need of a donor after her one-in-25million match pulled out of a transplant.
Pamela’s boy Kai Laidlaw was first diagnosed with infant acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in September 2013, when he was eight months old.
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He went into remission after a gruelling course of chemotherapy but not before the cancer had spread to his left eye, which had to be removed.
When he was 27 months, Kai had a relapse, with the leukaemia taking over more than 50 per cent of his bone marrow.
He initially responded well to a transplant in July 2015 before having another relapse and losing his battle in January, aged three.
Pamela said she and Kai’s dad Calvin are eternally grateful to his donor, who gave their happy little boy a further six months to live.
The Edinburgh mum added: “Cancer doesn’t discriminate. It could affect you or someone close to you and you could find yourself in need of a bone marrow match, just like Ava.
“While Kai’s transplant may not have worked, it did give us those extra precious six months with him where we were able to try to find more treatment options.
“I don’t want his death to have been for nothing.”
Almost 10,000 Scots have signed up since we told Ava’s story. Register at www.anthonynolan.org if you’re aged 16 to 30 or www.dkms.org.uk/en for those over 30 and under 55.