Placeholder Content Image

“We need a donor”: Parents' desperate plea to save young daughter

<p>The heartbroken parents of five-year-old Addison Kemp have made a desperate plea to save their young daughter. </p> <p>Addison suffers from a rare health condition called severe Aplastic anaemia, which means that her body’s bone marrow does not produce enough new blood cells to carry out vital tasks like carry oxygen, control infections or heal after an injury.</p> <p>This means that even a simple nosebleed can be catastrophic for the young girl, as she's forced to spend days in hospital getting blood transfusions to stay alive. </p> <p>Her parents Bianca and Daniel have spoken about her condition in an interview with<em> A Current Affair </em>and explained how without a bone-marrow transplant, the condition could mean death for their young daughter. </p> <p>“She wouldn’t live,” Ms Kemp said.</p> <p>“We need a donor.”</p> <p>The couple first found out about their daughter's condition after she returned home from school with bruises all over her body. </p> <p>Addison was taken to the doctor for a blood test, and they found out about the devastating condition a day later and were told to immediately take her to Queensland Children’s Hospital. </p> <p>“I was gutted, I was devastated. Getting a phone call from the doctor saying you need to rush your little girl to the hospital. That wasn’t a phone call that I wanted,” Mr Kemp said. </p> <p>Addison now has to stay in hospital until she can be matched with a donor. </p> <p>Her little sister Crimson, misses her every day that they are apart. </p> <p>“She gets a bit upset every day that they are not home,” Mr Kemp said. </p> <p>The family said that their bone-marrow did not match up with Addison, and no registered Australian donors had matched up with her either.</p> <p>However, not all hope is lost as any regular Australian could help save a life. </p> <p>Lisa Smith, from bone marrow donation charity Strength to Give, said that the donation process is similar to donating blood which involves a short course of injections before the operation. </p> <p>“The vast majority of time, it is you sitting in a chair, having your blood filtered, while you are watching Netflix," Smith said. </p> <p>Ms Kemp begged Australians to sign up as donors. </p> <p>“I really want to put the message out there that if you can, do,” she said.</p> <p>“You could be saving a life, that’s the biggest thing you could do in the world.”</p> <p><em>Image: A Current Affair</em></p> <p> </p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

The long-term problems with a B12 deficiency

<p>Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause a range of symptoms such as tiredness, weakness, constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss and megaloblastic anaemia. Nerve problems, such as numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, can also occur.</p> <p>Other symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency can include problems with balance, depression, confusion, dementia, memory and soreness of the mouth or tongue. Vitamin B12 deficiency can damage the nervous system even in people who don't have anaemia, so it is important to treat a deficiency as soon as possible.</p> <p>From a biochemical perspective vitamin B12 plays a critical role in keeping the body's nerve and blood cells healthy and helps make DNA, the genetic material in all cells. It is absorbed in a completely different way from most nutrients, in what is essentially a two-step process.</p> <p>Firstly, hydrochloric acid in the stomach separates vitamin B12 from the protein to which vitamin B12 is attached in food. After this, vitamin B12 combines with a protein made by the stomach called instrinsic factor and is absorbed by the body. Pernicious anaemia is a condition where the body cannot make intrinsic factor, subsequently these people have trouble absorbing vitamin B12 from all foods and even dietary supplements.</p> <p>You can also see how making good levels of stomach acid is essential to vitamin B12 status, and this is becoming a problem for more and more people.</p> <p>Vitamin B12 is found naturally in all animal foods and is added to some vegetable-based processed foods. Plant foods do not contain vitamin B12 unless they are fortified.</p> <p>If you believe your vitamin B12 deficient seek the advice of your GP, as often a regular B12 injection is required. You can also help to stimulate stomach acid production with apple cider vinegar before eating to see if this assists vitamin B12 levels.</p> <p>Did you learn something from “Dr Libby” that you didn’t know before? Let us know in the comments below.</p> <p><em>Written by Libby Weaver. First appeared on <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>.</span></strong></em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/06/does-cold-weather-cause-the-flu/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Does cold weather actually cause the flu?</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/06/colorectal-surgeon-on-why-over60s-need-to-screen-for-bowel-cancer/"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">A colorectal surgeon on why over-60s need to screen for bowel cancer</span></strong></em></a></p> <p><a href="/health/body/2016/06/simple-yoga-moves-to-improve-circulation/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Simple yoga moves to improve circulation</span></em></strong></a></p>

Body

Our Partners