When you have a sick child, there isn't one decision you make that's an easy one. You doubt yourself at every turn and pray your next move will be the one that takes your child's pain away for good.
We can only imagine how UK mom Elouise Davis felt when she found out her 10-month-old son, Jacob, was the perfect bone marrow match for his 2-year-old sister, Seren-Rose. The little girl suffered from a rare disease called mucopolysaccaridosis, or MPS, which causes developmental delays and can lead to death. Elouise was faced with a harrowing choice: risk her baby's health in order to save her older child, or hope for the best and take a chance by not taking chances.
After what we assume were many sleepless nights, this mom made the right call -- and made a hero out of her baby boy -- by allowing doctors to transplant his bone marrow into his sister. She says she knew she was taking a risk, but that it was worth it because without Jacob's gift, Seren had no chance of living a full, healthy life.
As I look at my two children, who are 4 months and 3 years old, my heart breaks at the thought of giving doctors permission to perform a procedure on such a tiny, helpless being. But then I think of a universe without my older daughter in it, and it becomes instantly clear to me that I would make the same choice as this mom.
I'd like to think I'm raising children who, if it were solely up to them, would do whatever they could to save their sibling. What would I say to my baby boy if, god forbid, his sister didn't make it, and he found out later in life that he had the power to help her but I kept him from doing so?
Elouise says she did a lot of research before making the call and that she learned the risks to her son were minimal. She says she considers her baby a "miracle" and that she will never let him forget what he did for Seren. The little girl is home from the hospital, recovering well, and back to playing and getting to just be a kid. As for her amazing little bro -- who celebrated his first birthday the day after his big sis got home -- he's apparently "obsessed" with Seren and follows her all over the house.
AWWW. These two will be best friends for life, thanks to their parent's heroic move.
Would you let your baby be a bone marrow donor for an older sibling?
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