Six-year-old girl hailed as a hero after volunteering herself as a donor for her dying baby brother and refusing to leave his side

A SIX-year-old girl has been hailed as a hero for bravely saving her baby brother's life by becoming his bone marrow donor. 

Little Caleb Ashby, from Barwell, Leicestershire, urgently needed a bone marrow transplant after a shortage of infection-fighting cells left him in danger of death by even a common cold.

The four-month-old, who was also born with a heart defect, was left needing the vital marrow after undergoing surgery in his chest just weeks after birth.

But big sister Sophia, stepped in to offer her cells after it was discovered she was a 100 per cent match to be a donor, bravely declaring at a hospital appointment: "If I give Caleb my bones, he will live."

The primary school girl had her bone marrow extracted from her hip through two holes in her back before it was donated to poorly Caleb who waited in another hospital bed.

Parents Kelsey Stynes, 28, and Lee Ashby, 31, had to wait alongside their children for an agonising fortnight to find out if Caleb's body had accepted the donated marrow.

Four weeks on, the baby is set to make a full recovery – but protective Sophia still refuses to leave his side, having a stronger bond with her brother than ever.

While both children have recovered from their operations, and Sophia has been given special permission to keep a close eye on Caleb until he goes home in eight weeks time.

Mum Kelsey said: "It makes me so emotional just thinking about it. I am completely overwhelmed by it all – she has been fantastic the whole way through this.

"She hasn't stopped smiling and she knows she has done a good thing, but I'm not sure if she knows how amazing she really is.

"If she didn't want to go ahead with it, then we wouldn't have Caleb here with us now. She saved his life. She's done an amazing job and without her we wouldn't have reached where we are now."

The mum-of-four, who also has two other sons, Zachary, one, and Tyler, eight, first found out Caleb would have a heart defect at her 22 week scan.

It showed that the baby boy had truncus arteriosus, only one large blood vessel leading from his heart instead of two, and a hole in his heart.

In January, at just two-weeks-old, Caleb underwent his first eight-hour surgery to inset a plastic stent in his heart to do the job of the blood vessel he lacked.

He spent five days in intensive care before doctors realised the newborn's wound was not healing – with tests revealing he had 'no white blood cells at all' and was at risk of infection.

Doctors warned that even a common cold could put Caleb's life at risk, and that because his body was too weak to recover from the surgery.

Caleb's bone marrow, the soft centre of bones, had completely failed to produce healthy cells in order for him to keep up with his needs.

The family were told the only option to save his life was a bone marrow transplant to repair his immune system – and for that they would need a match.

Kelsey, Lee, Sophia and Zachery were all tested as potential matches on February 18 – but Kelsey and Lee were ruled out as only 50 per cent matches, as was their other son.

Sophia, however, was a 100 per cent match, handing her baby brother a vital lifeline that she was more than willing to give.

"I had mixed emotions," Kelsey revealed. "Sophia was so willing but I didn't want to put Sophia through it if she didn't want to. But she said, 'I want to help'."

The mum said her daughter 'smiled' and 'was happy' when they found out her bone marrow was a match, and despite having the option to opt out, courageously stuck by her work.

The marrow donation op went ahead on March 5, with Sophia put under general anaesthetic before the stem cells were removed from bone marrow in her hip.

After a week of chemotherapy to prepare him for the transfusion, Caleb underwent surgery too to receive Sophia's marrow on March 6.

Within two weeks, the family knew that the operation had been a success – with doctors describing it as a 'textbook' procedure, and Caleb is set to return home in eight weeks when his blood stabilises.

Sophia opted to stay by her brother's side throughout his recovery and is currently attending the hospital school, so she can pop in to see little Caleb at any time.

Kelsey said: "They adore each other – and are the best of friends. They are closer than ever now. Sophia knows she has done an amazing thing."

And others agree, with members of the public hailing the schoolgirl as a 'hero' for her act of bravery to save her baby brother.

Reacting online, one woman wrote: "What a little hero. It must have been very scary for her – but she will hopefully be rewarded with a wonderful, long and happy relationship with her brother."

"What a brave girl," wrote another. "A massive well done to her for being such a fantastic big sister. What a little hero."

In other news, a private baby scan saved a woman's life after the doctors spotted a tumour in her bladder.

Elsewhere a woman who thought she had food poisoning has revealed her shock after her baby 'slipped out' while she was on the loo.

And an OCD sufferer has revealed how the condition made her think she was a murderer, was suicidal and had AIDS.

Source: Read Full Article