THE FAMILY of a Bromsgrove teenager with leukaemia, and desperately needed a stem cell transplant, have received a dream Christmas present as a match has been found in the UK.
The family of Leo Spronson, aged 16, received the wonderful news on Tuesday (December 16), just days after finding out the teen is in remission.
Leo’s bone marrow results showed that the signs and symptoms of Leo’s leukaemia have lessened, indicating a positive response to treatment.
Since Leo was first told he was in remission, his blood has been really stable, and for the first time in a long time, working as they should- but there is a 25 per cent chance the cancer will come back.
Leo will now be heading to an appointment on Monday (December 22) to get his stem cell transplant started.
Since his diagnosis, Leo’s family have been working with blood cancer charity DKMS to get more people on the stem cell donor register in a bid to improve his chances of finding a match and held a registration day last month.
Jenna, Leo’s mum, said: “The donor match is 10/12 – which is fantastic. We don’t know who or where that person is from.
“We are so incredibly thankful for everyone who is on, or has registered with DKMS to join the stem cell register – you are literally saving lives, and who knows, one of you could be Leo’s match.”
“Leo will be admitted to the hospital on January 12, where he will be isolated for four to six weeks and prepared for transplant, so he will have a 30-minute intense bag of chemo, which will completely shut down his immune system.
“This is when Leo will be at his most vulnerable.
“As you can imagine, Leo will not allowed any visitors or allowed home throughout this.
“As his mum, I will be staying with him for the whole time by his side like I always do.
“He is, after all, still only 16 and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else – so this also means I will not be allowed home.
“Thank you, everyone, for continuing to support us all through this journey.
“If anything, we want to help spread awareness of how important it is to get registered with DKMS UK so please keep sharing.”
