The life of a Tayside baby with a rare genetic condition has been saved after a gift of bone marrow from his older sister.
Oliver Boyd, from Auchmithie, was born in July 2011 with Omenn syndrome, a severe combined immune deficiency which is so rare that just one in a million children is affected by it.
He was diagnosed by doctors at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee when, three months after he was born, he was suffering from inflamed skin and required oxygen at home to assist his breathing.
Oliver’s parents, Heather and Paul, were told simply that if their newborn didn’t get a bone marrow transplant as quickly as possible he would die.
Thankfully his older sister Abigail, now aged nine, was a perfect match.
“We were very lucky that Oliver was diagnosed so quickly,” said Heather. “Most children who have Omenn syndrome die within 12 months without it being diagnosed.
“A month later we went to Yorkhill, the children’s hospital in Glasgow, with Oliver’s sister Abigail and we were all tested to see if we were a match for a transplant.
“Luckily, not only was Abigail a match, she was a 100% match.”
From there Oliver was transferred to the special Bubble Unit at Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, which specialises in bone marrow transplants.
Before the operation he received chemotherapy treatment to wipe out his immune system which was attacking his body.
“It was really hard to watch Oliver just get weaker and weaker,” said Heather.
Meanwhile Abigail, a primary five pupil at Inverkeilor Primary School, had bone marrow taken under general anaesthetic.
“She was very brave,” Heather recalled. “She never once complained about it and just got on with it. One of the worst parts of being down in Newcastle was that Abigail couldn’t even go to visit Oliver in case she gave him any infection.”
In December 2011 Oliver had a successful bone marrow transplant but still faced a long road to recovery. He was so weak that his body struggled to accept the new cells.
Heather, a recently-qualified social worker, moved to Newcastle for nine months so she could visit him every day.
She continued: “He’s risked death three times now and against the odds he’s always pulled through. He’s a real fighter. The transplant led to inflammation of the lungs and he was so weak that it affected him very badly.
“It has been touch and go at times if he would pull through and it’s taken him a long time to recover.”
His most recent spell in Newcastle lasted from December until earlier this week, during which time he had to go back on a ventilator.
“We are just so pleased to have him home. He’s still on an awful lot of drugs, home oxygen and has to be fed through a tube.”