A boy left waiting for a crucial bone marrow transplant that was left on a US airport tarmac will go into hospital on Thursday for his “biggest fight yet”.
Six-year-old Queensland boy Mateoh Eggleton was left in dire straits after his transplant was left behind in the US, but the transplant material finally made its way to Australia and has been deemed viable.
“It is awesome news that the cells have arrived, but now the big step is the transplant and conditioning,” Mateoh’s mum Shalyn Eggleton said.
“This will be Mateoh’s biggest fight yet, as this is our last option for treatment.”
She said Mateoh was feeling “a bit nervous” ahead of what was likely to be a hundred-plus day stay in hospital.
“This transplant, being our last option to trial, we don’t know if it is going to take or not,” she said.
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Eggleton said she was waiting for the results of an investigation into how the transplant was initially left behind.
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“Why it was left unattended, we do not have answers for,” she said.
“But now the main focus is getting through the transplant, but still having them answer, because it is unacceptable, what happened.”
She said it had been extremely difficult to find a donor, and urged eligible Australians to register to share their bone marrow with people in need.
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