Parents seek stem cell donor for baby with rare blood disorder

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 6 Nov, 00:27 · Archive

Ellis Feldon, aged ten and a half months, has been diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome and needs a stem cell transplant.

Ellis Feldon, aged ten and a half months and from North Devon, has been diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS), a rare genetic disorder that almost exclusively affects boys. His parents Matt and Caitlin have issued an urgent plea for a stem cell donor to give their son 'a chance to grow up'. No suitable matches currently exist on the international stem cell register.

Ellis was admitted to hospital with jaundice shortly after birth and by last Christmas was struggling to keep down his normal formula. When further symptoms appeared, including severe eczema and blood spots on his skin, doctors carried out blood tests. After months of hospital appointments, he was diagnosed with WAS. The condition impacts the body's ability to fight infection and causes easy bruising, eczema, bloody diarrhoea, and prolonged bleeding from minor scrapes. It is caused by genetic flaws on the X chromosome and affects roughly three in every million boys worldwide.

His father explained: 'In normal circumstances, you'd be able to really enjoy those first few months as first-time parents with your little baby, but Ellis has been ill since he was so small.' He added that initially they were told the team was confident a match would be found, but 'things have only snowballed from there'.

How it is being reported

• Family pleads for stem cell donor to give baby boy the chance to grow upEllis Feldon needs a potentially life-saving, stem cell transplant, having been diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS), a genetic disorder that almost exclusively affects boysThe Mirror · 6 Nov, 00:06
• Parents issue urgent plea for stem cell donor to save baby boy with rare blood conditionBaby Ellis was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome after months of hospital appointmentsThe Independent · 6 Nov, 00:01

In this story: Ellis Feldon · Matt Feldon · Caitlin Feldon · North Devon

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