His father, Alex Haden, is speaking out ahead of the Bayleys blood drive on November 3 in Tauranga and is encouraging people to donate blood because without donors, his son wouldn't be alive.
Ritchie Haden is only 5 years old but he has already had 77 blood transfusions in his short life.
His father, Alex Haden, says his boy would not be alive if it were not for “lifesaving” blood donors.
Ritchie, from Tauranga, has an extremely rare form of anaemia which means he does not produce red blood cells normally.
He has had a transfusion about every four weeks since birth and Haden said he would need to continue them for the rest of his life unless the family make the “big decision” for Ritchie to have a stem cell transplant.
Haden says a transplant could potentially cure Ritchie’s condition, but it was “not without risk”.
For now, the easiest option is to continue with blood transfusions.
Haden, speaking out before the Bayleys blood drive on November 3 in Tauranga, has donated blood 71 times and was a donor “long before” having Ritchie.
“I guess I always felt like it would be helping people, but I can tell you that when you land in a situation like ours, blood donation becomes hugely significant and massively appreciated.”
Tauranga 5-year-old Ritchie Haden and his father, Alex Haden. Ritchie has so far had 77 'lifesaving' blood transfusions after being diagnosed with an extremely rare form of anaemia. Photo / Alex Cairns
Haden said a blood test after Ritchie was born revealed his haemoglobin — part of the blood that carries oxygen around the body — was “critically low”.
“This led to his first blood transfusion within an hour or so of birth,” Haden said.
“He was on a helicopter to Waikato NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] within around four hours of birth and a week later another helicopter to Starship [children’s hospital in Auckland].”
Tests showed Ritchie had a condition called congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia.
Haden said specialists told them the odds of having the condition were one in 165 million.
Ritchie Haden has an extremely rare form of anaemia which means he does not produce red blood cells normally. Photo / Alex Cairns
He said Ritchie would need blood transfusions for the rest of his life unless he had a stem cell transplant.
However, Haden said a transplant was a “quite involved” process including an ethical team and medical specialists. A transplant would also mean Ritchie having “high-dose chemo”.
Haden explained the risk associated with relying on blood transfusions was a “toxic build-up” of iron.
He said Ritchie got iron from the food he ate and from blood transfusions.
“The biggest risk in his life is over the ability to remove that iron.
“It might be that we get to the point where it’s too difficult to manage and that sort of forces us down the path of a stem cell transplant.”
Ritchie Haden is a resilient kid who enjoys riding bikes and scooters, says his dad, Alex Haden. Photo / Alex Cairns
In many respects, Ritchie led a normal life thanks to “lifesaving” blood donors, Haden said.
He attends daycare and plans to start school next year, plays with his sisters, Ella, 4, and Abbie, 1, at their home in the Avenues, and loves riding bikes and scooters.
“Just topped up with a whole new set of blood, he’s got more energy than we can cope with.
“He’s remarkably resilient – it’s just part of his life.”
Haden said giving blood was “a small gesture” and “easy to do”. He encouraged others to become donors.
“If you could only put yourselves in our shoes to realise how important it is, it just might make people reassess.
“It just takes it to another level when you have the context – literally our boy wouldn’t be here without it.”
The sponsorship and events manager for real estate company Bayleys, Vicki Semple, said Ritchie’s story was a “powerful reminder” of the importance of blood donation.
“I think a lot of people think that you only need blood if you’ve been in an accident … There’s children like Ritchie that are born with health conditions and there’s also people that are fighting cancer,” she said.
“We really want to raise awareness about the importance of giving blood. And it’s such a small thing you can do to really make a difference.”
Semple said Bayleys was committed to holding an annual blood drive. This year’s event will take place at the Bayleys office on Cameron Rd in Tauranga from 8.30am to 1pm next Friday, November 3.
Last month, the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend spoke to Vyron Mete, who nearly died after donating a kidney to his father, and was saved by plasma donations.
“One hundred and fifty people, they saved my life,” Mete said.
