Eugene Joseph owes his life to his little sister Mary, who at just 10, donated bone marrow to help her big brother.
Eugene's father Tim Joseph said Eugene became sick in spring of this year, and got worse going into the summer. Tim expressed his concern to the doctors, which led to a blood test in mid-June. Within hours, the Joseph family received a call stating they needed to bring Eugene to the hospital immediately. It turned out Eugene had developed a condition called aplastic anemia, which happens when your bone marrow stops making enough new blood cells. This rare and serious condition leaves one tired, and more prone to infections and uncontrolled bleeding and can develop at any age.
"He had zero bone marrow," said Tim. "It's been a battle ever since."
Eugene had just turned 16. He had always been active before his health took a turn in June and loves to play pool at the youth centre, and hang out with his many friends in Duncan.
While Mary's twin sister Margaret was only an eight for 10 match to donate bone marrow, Mary was 10 for 10. Mary takes great pride in being the one in the family to step up for her big brother.
"It felt really good to be able to help my big brother," said Mary. "Once I found out I was a match I wanted to just help him and decided to do it."
"She was all excited, she had no hesitations to help her brother," said Tim.
Mary, who is looking forward to returning to school at Khowhemun Elementary, said some of her favourite pastimes are playing soccer and basketball, as well as making crafts. The last is something she was able to do during her brief stay at BC Children's Hospital. She attended the hospital on July 20 to have her marrow extracted. Before checking out, she earned herself some playroom time, as well as an assistant nurse's badge.
Tim said Mary's procedure took two hours, followed by another hour and a half to have it processed.
Eugene was supposed to receive the bone marrow transplant the following week, but due to his worsening condition the procedure had to be postponed, though it did eventually go ahead.
The expected recovery time for Eugene is two to four months. It will soon be decided if he is well enough to be transferred to the Ronald McDonald house (a special facility for children and their families to use) to recover for a few more weeks before returning home.
"Every person is different, some take longer to recover but my son is a fighter," said Tim. "All his blood levels and nutrients have already come up substantially."
While Eugene really misses his friends, he may miss solid food a little more, as this ordeal has had him on a strictly liquid diet. Once he is given the green light ot go home, he will be on some medications and will need to take it easy for a while. The family will also have the added challenge of looking for a new place to live.
"He had some mould in his lungs, and while it not severe, it is mouldy enough where it is not good for him here," said Tim.
While a lot of people sign up to become organ donors, it is important to keep in mind that there are always people like Eugene waiting for a bone marrow match.
"This really changed my life," said Eugene. "I am going to have to change my life around, and help our mom clean up more, and learn how to cook. I'm thankful that Mary was a 10 for 10 match to save my life. I'm so happy for that."
"To see a 10-year-old little girl do this and recover in less than two weeks is really quite remarkable," said Tim. "Imagine if your bone marrow matches someone that you don't know, but you still decide to donate it to them. That person whose life you saved is going to come see you along with the mother, and the father and show you that you are their hero, you are now a part of that person. The feeling of love that you would get from the whole family for saving that child's life."
