Mea Richards, a West Rolleston School student, was diagnosed with Aplastic anaemia five months ago, and her parents put a call to family on social media asking for stem cell donations. Photo / Supplied
Mea Richards, a West Rolleston School student, was diagnosed with Aplastic anaemia five months ago, and her parents put a call to family on social media asking for stem cell donations. Photo / Supplied
Hundreds of Christchurch residents are expected to turn out on Sunday to swab their cheeks in the hopes of becoming a stem cell donor to save the life of an 8-year-old with a rare blood condition.
Mea Richards, a West Rolleston School student was diagnosed with Aplastic anaemia five months ago, and her parents put a call to family on social media asking for stem cell donations.
While the call was just to family, their post “blew up”, resulting in more than 150 locals raising their hands to join the donation cause.
A venue in Hornby has been hired out as a result of the support.
Mea is the youngest child of the Richards family, she’s described as a “bubbly girl” who was initially admitted to hospital with influenza. Photo / Supplied
Father Ray Richards said he was blown away by the generosity of his community, which has committed to turning out on Sunday to have their cheeks swabbed.
“It’s humbling to see people coming out of the woodwork - they don’t even know Mea, so it’s amazing.”
Mea is the youngest child of the Richards family, she’s described as a “bubbly girl” who was initially admitted to hospital with influenza.
The resulting blood tests revealed all her red and white blood cells had dramatically dropped, and more tests confirmed the diagnosis of aplastic anaemia.
The condition means Mea suffers from regular shortness of breath, is vulnerable to bruising and will bleed at the drop of a hat. She’s also prone to infections, as her white blood cells aren’t there to combat them.
When the family approached medical experts about securing a bone marrow donor for her, they were initially told there would be plenty of donors available.
Ray said they were later told this was a miscommunication.
“That was hard to hear, there were only three in the world - one in New Zealand, one in the US and one in Brazil and all of them aren’t close enough, which means she would have lots of diverse effects [if they were used].”
The intention behind Sunday is to find another option. Attendees will be swabbed on the cheek and samples will be sent back for testing, to determine a potential candidate.
Father Ray Richards is blown away by the generosity of his community, which has committed to turning out on Sunday to have their cheeks swabbed. Photo / Supplied
From there, it’s another medical exam to ensure the candidate is healthy and ensure they have the right tissue type, the candidate will then remain on the donor list until they’re 60.
“This is my own perception: lots of people donate blood but we don’t think a lot about bone marrow blood stem cells donations, so I can only assume there isn’t enough,” Ray said.
Ray said his family’s personal hope is a donor is found for Mea, but the act of donations alone means more people will be on the donor list to help others out.
“Nicole [Ray’s wife] and I have been amazed to see what went from a post to essentially over 150 people putting their name forward to what is a life-long commitment. It’s amazing. We’re amazed at people’s generosity and in this day and age, you don’t see it a lot.”
After Sunday, it will be a slow waiting game as blood-matching takes place behind the scenes.
“What Mea said to me and my wife in the hospital was ‘I’m over having this stupid disease’ and that, coming from an 8-year-old, is pretty hard. To have a donor would give her a cure and allow her to carry on a normal life.”
