Merseyside family's bone marrow appeal to help save seven-year-old son Finn

A little boy with an extremely rare condition is in desperate need of a transplant to save his life after his family were ruled out.

Finn McEwen, seven, from Litherland has bone marrow failure and now his family are facing a race against time to find a stem cell match.

His condition, myelodysplastic syndrome, is extremely rare in children and cannot be treated with chemotherapy, so a transplant is Finn’s only hope.

His family, including dad Neil, 46, baby sister Seren, 18 months, and brother Lucas, 6, have all been ruled out as matches and Finn needs to have the transplant within the next six to eight weeks to have the best chance of recovery.

Finn McEwen has fun with his family

His mum Carole, 43, says Finn has always been well and active, and it was a massive shock when doctors said he had the condition.

The family had to endure weeks of waiting after Finn suffered a serious nosebleed in January before doctors could find out what was wrong with him, as it is extremely difficult to diagnose.

Carole said: “It’s been this massive rollercoaster, up and down. We couldn’t believe it, it came from nowhere. We thought it was nothing and then thought it could be leukaemia, and then we had that couple of weeks where we thought it was going to be OK.

“This is a hundred times worse than before. Every time we go in there seems to be an extra bit of bad news. It just feels like it’s your worst nightmare.”

A transplant is the only cure for the condition, which is caused by bone marrow not making enough healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Finn’s levels of all three are already extremely low, and doctors are concerned that he could develop leukaemia.

Carole used a booklet designed to explain stem cell transplants to children to help Finn and his brother understand the condition.

She said: “His brother was crying and saying ‘I don’t want you to get sick’, and he was cuddling him and saying ‘don’t cry, it’ll be alright.

“He’s just amazing. He never thinks of himself, he’s just thinking of other people at the moment.

“I think that’s why it’s been taken up so much by people who know him, because they can’t believe it could happen to him.

“He’s always looking out for other kids. He’s one of a kind.”

To see if you are a match for Finn, join the bone marrow registry at either deletebloodcancer.org.uk or anthonynolan.org

This story and photo source: Liverpool Echo