Zoey Da Silva was flushed and rosy-cheeked after a successful blood transfusion; at first, the hospital couldn’t find her a match, but her community rallied, and a close-enough match was found to bring her back to health.
Johannesburg, South Africa (18 May 2022) – Zoey Da Silva and her parents were over the moon recently when they were able to find a blood donor match for her next blood transfusion. Zoey received a bone marrow transplant in October 2021, and a blood transfusion was needed for her next phase of treatment.
The Mighty Mack Army rallied their supporters and asked everyone to go donate blood so that a match could be found for Zoey; it worked!
Zoey was diagnosed on 31 Dec 2020 with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) at the age of 7. Her first set of tests didn’t indicate anything but the second set showed something. Melissa, Zoey’s mom, found herself being referred to the paediatric oncology team at Donald Gordon that same day. Zoey was admitted, and the team started biopsies on her bone marrow and swollen glands. When the diagnosis was given, their world shifted.
Zoey spent the next few weeks undergoing treatment to try and get her cancer into remission. Her medical team spent four weeks doing induction treatments on her marrow which would hopefully bring on remission. Unfortunately, they had to abandon this treatment when her numbers didn’t meet their expectations. The next plan, find a bone marrow match.
“This meant the original ‘plan’ was now derailed as she now needed a bone marrow transplant – even just 0.01% away from remission meant she was at higher risk of relapse even if she did go into full remission after round 2 of treatment. This was the biggest blow we could ever have imagined, particularly since she was doing so well post the first round of treatment – even her doctor was in disbelief when she had initially read the results.
Almost immediately, we had her sister tested for a possible match since siblings have a far higher chance of being a match compared to an unrelated donor. However, unfortunately, she was not a match for Zoey, and she was then added to the bone marrow registry to find an unrelated donor. We were understandably disheartened by the now significantly reduced chance of finding a 100% match but in no way were we giving up.” – Melissa
To prepare for an eventual match, Zoey started chemotherapy and blood transfusions to work towards getting her numbers to zero. As many families do, Melissa started raising awareness about Zoey’s condition and encouraged people to register as bone marrow donors so they could find a match. They launched the Zoey Grace Fund and started sharing updates about Zoey and her progress.
People rallied and started signing up to be donors.
“Our luck was about to change when we received the news on 17 May 2021 that we had not only found a donor match for Zoey, but we had found 7 local matches – all of which were 100%. During a time when COVID was still rife, having a local donor meant costs, delays, and higher potential risks were significantly reduced so this was the best outcome we could have asked for.”
Zoey had her life-saving transplant on the 6th of October, 2021. Her blood cells started looking good, and by the 19th of October, she was declared cancer-free and got to ring the bell at the Donald Gordon Paediatric Oncology Ward.
Usually, in fairytales, this is the part where they lived happily ever after, but in the transplant world, it means that life can go on, but there are many more things to watch for going forward.
In Zoey’s case, she needed to visit her doctor every week for tests and treatment to keep any side effects down and to check her immune system and antibodies. She was doing so well that she was allowed to attend her first day of Grade 3 and reached 100 days post-transplant without too many complications.
“However, complications are part of the journey while her immune system is still in recovery, and Zoey has subsequently been admitted to hospital twice this year due to this – both of which meant close to 10 days of normal life missed.
Most recently, we had discovered a major complication whereby her new immune system was attacking her red blood cells leading to her being severely fatigued, unable to walk properly due to weakness and dizziness, and found her in urgent need of a blood transfusion.”
The Mighty Mack Army heard that Zoey needed a blood transfusion and that, sadly, there was no match at the hospital’s blood bank, so they called on their followers to go and donate blood in honour of Zoey’s recovery. A day later, a close enough match was found. The donations made by Mighty Mack’s Army and Zoey’s own followers meant an influx of much-needed blood for not only Zoey but all those families waiting to find matches for their own children and loved ones.
“Thankfully, she did receive her transfusion – although it had to be administered in ICU for close observation due to the fact that we still did not find a 100% match and there is a risk of reaction if there is any rejection to the blood. Luckily, she didn’t have any reactions and moments later, Zoey was ‘back’ – she had colour back in her face and was full of her usual cheekiness.”
Zoey has bounced back since the transfusion, and while they wait for her 3-month post-transplant biopsy results, she has been able to resume life as usual. The hope going forward is that there are no more complications, and Zoey can go on to live a mostly normal life.
“For now, we continue to try to get back to normal life and hope for no further complications. But we are fully aware that this is part of the process and not uncommon, and our champion continues to fight with unrivalled strength and positivity with every curve ball thrown her way.
Although we have and continue to face many hurdles, we have been extremely blessed by every positive outcome so far. This would not have been possible without her incredible team of medical super heroes, and of course, the amazing support we have received by sharing and being a part of Zoey’s story, Our hope is that, through her story, we encourage more people to not only donate blood but also register as a bone marrow donor, and possibly allow someone else the same positive outcome in the future.”
These stories do inspire hope and show us that together we can make a difference in so many lives, even by simply donating some blood. Zoey is better today because someone gave a little of themselves.
You can continue to follow her story via the Zoey Grace Fund Facebook page here. Mom, Melissa, keeps everyone updated on her progress and also shares the stories of others when they need a helping hand.
by 