At just eight years old, Elam has seen his childhood stripped away, battling severe aplastic anaemia, a rare and life-threatening blood disorder.
Elam, whose surname has been withheld, no longer has the energy to play with his friends or enjoy his favourite hobbies like writing, drawing, or playing video games.
His only hope for survival lies in a stem cell transplant from a matching donor, but there’s no match for him on the registry yet.
“While over 100,000 South Africans have registered as potential donors over the past three years, there currently isn’t anyone who shares enough human leukocyte antigens (HLA) characteristics with Elam,” Palesa Mokomele, head of community engagement and communications at DKMS Africa said.
She explained that for a donor to be considered a match, they and the patient must have at least eight out of ten tissue characteristics in common, but ideally, they should share ten.
Without this, the patient’s body would reject the stem cells provided by the donor, so Elam desperately needs more people to register to help him regain his childhood.
Elam’s mother, Khanya, first noticed something was wrong in December last year when he was accidentally hit by a stone while playing with friends.
His eye quickly swelled shut, and concerned about possible eye damage, she rushed him to George Hospital where he received treatment. Further tests revealed something far more serious.
Elam was transferred to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, where doctors diagnosed him with severe aplastic anaemia. Since then, he hasn’t been able to attend school, only managing a few days of Grade 2 before his illness took over.
Despite the tough times, Khanya has fortunately had support from her family.
“When Elam was still at George Hospital, I spent two months by his side every day. My mom, partner, and other family members took turns to relieve me. Now that Elam is in Cape Town, my grandmother is his primary caregiver, and my mom and I rotate our leave to be there.”
Worried about her son’s future, she urges anyone who’s hesitant to register, saying, “Giving someone a chance at life is fulfilling a purpose, and it will always be appreciated.”
DKMS is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. It was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr Peter Harf. DKMS, together with the organization’s over 1,200 employees, has since relentlessly pursued the aim of giving as many patients as possible a second chance at life.
With over 12 million registered donors, DKMS has succeeded in doing this more than 115,000 times to date by providing blood stem cell donations to those in need.
This accomplishment has led to DKMS becoming the global leader in the facilitation of unrelated blood stem cell transplants. The organization has offices in various countries, including South Africa.
DKMS is also heavily involved in the fields of medicine and science, with its own research unit focused on continually improving the survival and recovery rate of patients. In its high-performance laboratory, the DKMS Life Science Lab, the organization sets worldwide standards in the typing of potential blood stem cell donors.
Pretoria News