A POORLY youngster with a rare genetic condition has qualified for a bone marrow transplant from a mystery donor.

Henry Alderson has diamond blackfan anaemia - a disorder which stops his bone marrow functioning properly.

He has to have blood transfusions every three to four weeks.

The two-year-old is also the only person in the world to have a faulty myelodysplasia gene too, making it more likely that he will develop a form of blood cancer.

His parents, Zoe and Craig Alderson, have been trying to raise £50,000 to cover the cost of three IVF cycles for a second child.

Doctors told them if the embryo did not have diamond blackfan anaemia and was a tissue match for Henry, it could be implanted in the hope of a pregnancy.

The couple, from Dovercourt, hoped if the IVF was successful a bone marrow transplant from a sibling donor would transform Henry’s life.

But, under the advice of doctors, the parents’ plans for a saviour sibling have taken a dramatic turn as Henry could now get a transplant from a donor.

Zoe said: “We saw Henry’s consultant in London to discuss treatment plans going forward and we were in no way prepared for what was coming. Everything has changed.

“We’ve exhausted a lot of the treatment options we had and Henry now qualifies for a transplant from a unrelated donor.

“His medication dosage has been increased and we now have six months to try to get his iron levels as low as possible.

“It’s too high to do a transplant any time before that, it would be too dangerous. A transplant date will then be set if we are all in agreement that’s what we want.” Blood from Henry was taken to search the worldwide bone marrow register in the hope an unrelated donor who is a suitable match can be found.

Zoe said: “Now, more than ever, we are asking for help to make sure Henry finds a stem cell match for his transplant.”

She said they no longer have enough time to have the IVF to ensure Henry has a matched sibling donor for a transplant and fundraising will soon halt.

Zoe said she intends to use £15,000 raised through donations to have

IVF in the future so she does not

have another child with Henry’s condition.

If that is unsuccessful she will donate the money to help children in a similar predicament to Henry.

She said: “Thank you all so much for all of your help and support over the past year.

“It has been an absolute rollercoaster which is set to continue but we will continue to do all we can to ensure Henry has the best chance of a long and healthy life.”

The couple is encouraging people to sign up to see if they are eligible of being donors by visiting, www.dkms.org.uk.