A Strabane family have said their whole world has come crashing down after their 11-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare blood condition.
The Gormley family from the Co Tyrone town are desperately seeking stem cell donors for their daughter Holly, who has been diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Holly’s mum Claire says her daughter had been leading a normal life until she was hit by spells of fatigue and unexplained bruises on her body.
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As Holly’s condition worsened she was brought to Altnagelvin Hospital earlier this month, and is now in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children fighting an infection which has left her extremely unwell.
“It all came completely out of the blue, Holly was never sick, ever,” Claire said.
“To be honest we are all still very much in shock, our whole world just came crashing down around us in a matter of hours.
“She’s just an average 11-year-old girl, all in to her hair and make up. She is just a fun loving girl and still and all of a sudden we were hit by this.
“She loves school and is missing school and her friends a lot, but I can’t praise the staff at the Haematology Ward in the hospital enough, they have been unbelievable to Holly.
“We’re not keeping anything from Holly, we are being very honest with her and she knows what’s ahead of her.
“I’m so proud of her, the bravery that that child has shown throughout this is incredible, I don’t think there’s as many adults that would show the same bravery, she’s just amazing.”
Claire added that Holly’s symptoms of the rare condition started with short periods of fatigue, but progressed quickly after she was brought to hospital.
“It hit us out of the blue a wee bit, she started to get very tired and I noticed she was getting bruises,” she said.
“I didn’t think much of it because she’s an 11 year old girl and she goes out and about on the trampoline and stuff like that, every child gets wee bruises like that the odd time.
“I noticed then she had a massive bruise on the inside of her arm and I asked her about it. She said she didn’t how it happened and she didn’t hurt herself.
“It had been niggling in the back of my head, but then a week later on the Sunday evening she was very, very tired. I thought she had a bit of the flu or something like that, she just didn’t want to get out of bed.
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“She fainted then and I realised it just wasn’t good, so we took her to the local surgery. After checking her bloods the next morning they told us to go to A&E as soon as possible.
“Holly fainted at the desk in A&E, I managed to get her through the double doors and there was a team of nurses there and she just collapsed.
“She was taken straight to the paediatric ward and the next thing then we were in an ambulance heading to Belfast. It all just happened so quickly.”
Unfortunately Holly’s mum, dad and older brother were not found to be a match for the bone marrow transplant that Holly needs, and the family are working with the Anthony Nolan foundation to help find a suitable donor for her.
Claire is also trying to raise awareness about the rare disease, which she says many people may not have even heard of before.
“This disease is very rare but it is out there, it can manifest at any age but around Holly’s age is when they usually see it in children. The symptoms are fatigue, unusual bruising and even bleeding or nose bleeds.
“The response from everyone in the local community has been amazing, we have had so many messages of support and have just been blown away. The kindness of people has been amazing.”
Claire’s sister Geraldine has set up a fundraiser for donations to the Anthony Nolan Trust, who are working to find a stem cell donor for Holly. If you would like to contribute to the fundraiser you can do so here. "
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