Bubble boy in hunt for a donor

Mar 18 2007

Laura Kemp, Wales on Sunday

BOY in the Bubble Rhys Harris is searching for a bone marrow donor.

The six-year-old from Newbridge is one of only six people in the world to suffer from Nemo, a genetic disease which hits the immune system.

His condition has left him with tuberculosis and doctors give him only a slim chance of survival.

But before he is given chemotherapy and placed in a sterile ward separated from the outside world by airtight doors, he needs a bone marrow transplant.

People in good health aged 18-40 are invited to a local donor session on Wednesday from 4-7pm at Hollybush Primary School in Ton Road, Cwmbran.

The Anthony Nolan Trust’s donor recruitment manager Karen Archer said: “Thousands need a bone marrow transplant each year and only one third find a compatible donor in their family.

“Rhys could have a bright future and so could the other 7,000 patients waiting to find a donor.”

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What is SCID?

Severe combined immunodeficiency disease is the most serious primary immunodeficiency disorder. The defining characteristic of SCID is the absence of T cells and, as a result, lack of B cell function as well. Unless these defects are corrected the child will die of opportunistic infections before their first or second birthday. SCID can be caused by several different genetic defects, most of which are hereditary. In the past, children with this disorder were kept in strict isolation, sometimes in a plastic isolator or "bubble". Bubbles are no longer used as a standard of care, but the name remains a part of the history of SCID.

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