A family in West Seneca, New York, is asking for community support because their toddler is scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant Thursday.
WGRZ initially posted the story about two-year-old Jack Fadeley in November, who needed a donor for a critical bone marrow transplant and a donor drive was hosted to honor the child, the outlet reported Thursday.
Now, Jack is expected to have the life-saving transplant.
Beth Fadeley, his mother, wrote to WGRZ and noted, “We are not permitted to know the identity of the donor. Per the policy of the process, we have to wait one year after transplant before we can ask for direct contact with the donor.”
“Words really cannot do justice for the gratitude we feel for this donor. We will forever be humbled by the selflessness of this donor and of all those who have stayed by our side in support during this journey,” she stated.
The little boy was diagnosed with the respiratory virus RSV along with an ear infection in September, and transported to Oishei Children’s Hospital.
RSV can potentially be very dangerous for some babies and young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website (CDC).
“He not only had RSV but he had pneumonia in both lungs, he was in septic shock and he had almost no blood levels,” Beth recalled.
Jack’s parents said he was unable to catch his breath even after being placed on high flow oxygen. His heart rate and respiration were too high, so he was put on a ventilator.
He then started to decline and was put on an oscillator. Because he did not improve as expected, he was eventually put on an ECMO machine, which is reportedly the highest form of life support, according to WGRZ.
He was later taken off the ECMO machine, but a culture showed positive for a bacterial infection.
According to Beth, after the infection cleared and the RSV virus shed, “His current running diagnosis is severe idiopathic aplastic anemia. There are a few remaining tests for other rare blood disorders that have not yet resulted, but regardless of those results, the treatment remains the same – a bone marrow transplant.”
Now, the family is thankful for those who participated in the bone marrow drive.
Beth said, “Even though we are relieved and excited for this transplant to occur and hopeful for a successful transplant at that, Jack will still have a very long road ahead even after hospitalization and in addition to being hospitalized, at best, for several more weeks.”
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