She stole the hearts of the Hunter community and now the story of Addalyn Clements has generated hundreds of blood donations and almost 50 willing bone marrow donors.
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More than 130 blood donations have been made at the Maitland Donor Centre in the past week alone and inquiries for the Bone Marrow Registry continue to trickle in.
Addalyn – “Addy” – made headlines as the young girl in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant after being diagnosed with two cancers in the past 18 months.
If Addy, 5, of Tenambit, doesn’t receive a bone marrow transplant within six months she will die. And with no suitable matches in Addy’s family, the search has gone worldwide.
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“We’ve seen a significant lift in blood donations in the past week, and we’re getting a lot of inquiries from people wanting to donate for the first time,” Jemma Falkenmire from the Australian Red Cross Blood Service said.
“And there have been 25 people from Newcastle and 24 people from Maitland join the Bone Marrow Registry in the past week, many of them female.”
The disease threatening Addy’s life the most is the extremely rare Fanconi’s syndrome resulting in decreased production of all types of blood cells.
This week the Clements family received the news that Addy’s sibling Bailie, 6, is clear of the disease.
“Because she is Addy’s full-blood sister, Bailie had to be tested and there were concerns she may have Fanconi’s as well,” the girls’ mother, Rachael Clements, said.
“So we had to endure an agonising wait to see if that was the case, but thankfully she is clear.”
The Clements’ family has also signed up to receive a tally of the amount of donations inspired by Addy.
This means anyone who donates blood because of her story will be added to the For Addy Red25 group.
“Telling Addy’s story has had such a huge impact and we are thrilled at the increase in awareness,” Ms Clements said.
“This is really making a difference and besides looking for a donor for Addy, we want to increase the donor pool for future recipients.
“Addy is not the first child to need this help and she won’t be the last so it’s important for us to do this.”
And despite the influx of people willing to donate, Ms Falkenmire said more help is needed.
“We would urge healthy, young males of mixed ethnic backgrounds to get in touch, as we do need to see more diversity on the registry to find matches,” she said.
“We are pleased that people have well and truly got the message out there in the hunter region and people are talking about donating blood and bone marrow.”
For more information about donating visit donateblood.com.au.
