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News from Belfast
Telegraph Apr. 13, 2007
Dylan
awaits life-saving transplant in German clinic
Family prepare for major operation
Friday, April 13, 2007
By Claire Regan
A Belfast baby who is battling a rare illness has arrived in Germany
for a life-prolonging bone marrow transplant.
Ten-month-old Dylan Dicks is now being prepared for a course of
chemotherapy before undergoing the transplant early next month.
The operation is little Dylan's only hope of surviving
Tay Sachs Disease (TSD) which at present has no cure.
Paediatricians hope the procedure will halt the progression of the
tot's disease which could otherwise kill him before his fifth
birthday.
It is believed Dylan is one of only six people diagnosed with TSD in
the UK in the past 20 years. The disease will cause Dylan to become
blind, deaf and eventually paralysed before dying if a cure is not
found.
Dylan's anxious mother, 26-year-old Carrie Davidson, said their only
child is coping well with the preparation treatment so far. Speaking
to the Belfast Telegraph from Germany, she said the family "feels a
weight lifting" as they prepare for the treatment. "We don't have
time to waste with this disease. We need this operation to happen as
soon as possible. It is such a relief to be out here and have things
moving in the right direction. We're feeling very optimistic," she
added.
"It was also a relief to hear that the Eastern Health Board has
agreed to pay for the operation. It would have cost £100,000 and I
can't tell you what a difference it will make to have it paid for."
Before hearing that the health authorities would pay for the
transplant, the family had raised more than £80,000 through the
Dylan Dicks Appeal. The Ulster public rallied round after Dylan's
plight was highlighted in the Tele and money poured in from
fundraising events.
While no longer actively fundraising, some events will go ahead and
the appeal will remain open as the family "just do not know what is
ahead" .
The family will remain in Germany while Dylan recovers.
"We are taking it step by step at the minute," his mother added.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/health/article2445050.ece
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