A teenager has been “given back her life” by a stem cell donation from a European stranger.
Abbe Ferguson, 13, who had leukaemia, is in remission after the mystery donor stepped forward.
The cells were harvested at the height of the first Covid wave last spring, then flown across the Channel to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow where Abbe had the life saving transplant on June 2.
Speaking for the first time to launch the Race for Life at Home campaign, the youngster, from Kilmarnock, said: “I’m incredibly grateful to feel well again.
“It’s difficult to find the right words to thank my donor. She’s given me back my life.
“All we know is that the donor is female, from Europe, and she made the donation during the pandemic.” Looking back to the time of her diagnosis, Abbe added: “I remember feeling very sad when I was told I had cancer.
“There were times when I felt angry and asked, ‘Why me, mum?’
“Now I’ve been through that cancer journey, it’s important to me to help others.
“I’d like to be a cancer nurse working with children when I leave school as I know what it is like to face cancer.”
Mum Lynn Findlay, 40, vividly remembers the moment the family’s world was rocked in December 2019, when Abbe received the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia – a cancer which starts inside the bone marrow.
Abbe had visited the GP after several weeks of being pale, feeling exhausted and suffering from dizzy spells, chest pain and nose bleeds.
The doctor took blood, then phoned hours later telling her to go straight to Crosshouse Hospital for more tests.
She was transferred to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow the next day and doctors confirmed she had leukaemia.
Lynn said: “I broke down at that point. As a parent, I was like, ‘Where do I turn, what do I do?’
“My beautiful brave daughter had the fight of her life on her hands but she never once complained.”
Abbe started on chemotherapy but the treatment wasn’t working well enough and doctors said her best chance of survival was a stem cell transplant.
Lynn said: “It felt like the best thing ever to know they had found a perfect match for Abbe – just total relief.
“They had four bags of stem cells in total from the donor.
“Abbe was given two bags of the stem cells the first day, then another bag of the stem cells the next morning. I’m eternally grateful to Abbe’s donor.”
Lisa Adams, of Cancer Research UK, said: “The truth is, Covid-19 has slowed us down.
“But we will never stop and we are absolutely determined to continue to create better cancer treatments for tomorrow.”
● People can visit raceforlife.org to enter Race for Life at Home.
