Toddler starts chemotherapy after search for life-saving donor

The family of a Highland youngster say they cannot wait until she is able to enjoy a normal life again after waiting two years for a bone marrow transplant.

Adeline Davidson’s operation has suffered a series of setbacks including worries that the coronavirus pandemic would cause further delays.

But the four-year-old will finally start to receive chemotherapy ahead of her transplant after a worldwide search found a match.

Adeline’s mother Steph said: “The donor has given the marrow and it was processed in England, they have it now frozen and ready to go.

“Obviously there’s a bit of unknown and unpredictable that we need to get past first, so that’s obviously quite scary but to just live some kind of normality… I can’t wait, I can’t wait.

“I’ve got so many anxieties and if I keep going down the road of all the possibilities of things that could go wrong, I’d find myself not able to come back up again.

“So, we’ll just take every day, day-by-day, take it as it comes and, you know, kick its butt.”

Adeline, who suffers from a rare blood cancer called myelodysplasia, learned in January 2020 that a matching donor had been found in the US.

Myelodysplasia, which usually affects over 65s, means her bone marrow does not produce sufficient blood cells.

She had been receiving weekly blood transfusions to keep her alive and was poised to undergo the transplant in Glasgow in March last year, but it was called off due to a minor medical complication.

Then – after waiting for months due to the pandemic – the donor match became unavailable, sending the family back to square one. The family were devastated as they had been shielding to protect the toddler, who is susceptible to the virus due to her weakened immune system.

Now – after a long wait, setbacks and delay due to everything from Covid to Brexit – Adeline is prepping for the life-changing operation.