Grandad Alfie jumps for joy as Annabel starts school

23 November 2011

When five-year-old Annabel started school after a successful bone marrow transplant, proud Grandad Alfie decided it was time to do “some serious fundraising”. Alfie, 65, will be jumping from a plane this Sunday, 26 November.

Annabel was diagnosed at the age of four with a rare form of leukaemia which affects less than one in 100,000 children. After receiving a stem cell transplant from umbilical cord blood at The Children’s Hospital, she is now in remission.

Professor Ajay Vora, Consultant Paediatric Haematologist, said: “Annabel’s condition is invariably fatal. It can only be cured by a stem cell transplant as it doesn’t respond to normal chemotherapy.”

Annabel’s mum Abbie said: “People think a bone marrow transplant is an operation, but it was just like having a blood transfusion. It’s a bag of new cells that looks a bit like orange juice.

“It took about half an hour for the cells to go in through Annabel's wiggly line while we watched Cinderella on DVD.”

Annabel and her family, from Lincolnshire, were referred to Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in May this year.

The cells that were used in the transplant were from an umbilicial cord. Mothers can donate their cord blood, which is taken from the cord after a baby has been delivered. What is usually thrown away as waste can be used to save a life like Annabel’s.

“There are ten times as many stem cells within cord blood than in bone marrow, “said Professor Vora. “Annabel had a 100% match with the cells from the donor we found. She still visits the clinic here every two weeks but she is doing really well.”

Abbie said: “Annabel absolutely loves school – she’s full of chatter and bounce when she comes out at the end of each day.

“Annabel and her little brother William are very excited about the skydive and will tell people ‘Papa is going to jump out of a plane’. They are probably a bit unsure about what this will actually look like in reality - it will be interesting to see their faces when they watch him!”