A MIRACLE MATCH

He has a condition so rare his doctors had never heard of it – but now there's hope for baby Leo after a bone marrow donor was found in record time

- NICI DE WET

IMAGINE your busy baby cooped up in a cot for six weeks with only a few toys, medical staff and Mom and Dad around to entertain him.

That's the reality parents Tarryn and Andrew Parker of Cape Town are facing as their 10-month-old son prepares to undergo a life-saving stem cell transplant.

Little Leo Parker's story has captivated hearts around the world after his search for a donor went viral in March.

He was born with MECOM-associated syndrome – a rare, life-threatening genetic disorder that stops bone marrow from producing red and white blood cells as well as platelets. There are only 23 recorded cases in the world and Leo is the first known case in SA, Andrew says. “How I explain it is that his bone marrow factory is broken, which means he has zero immunity.”

Red blood cells carry oxygen around the body while white cells are a vital part of the immune system. Platelets help with clotting and prevent bleeding. Without these life-sustaining properties, Leo has had to rely on regular platelet and blood transfusions to survive.

“He's had 24 transfusions since the beginning of October 2024,” Tarryn says.

Now, in what his parents have called a miracle, he's been given a chance at a normal life after a match was found.

“We got the email on Easter Monday,” says Andrew (41), an estate agent. “I told Tarryn and we were both in disbelief.”

But things won't be easy. “We're probably facing the hardest part right now,” says Tarryn (41), an aesthetics doctor.

Leo’s transplant, set to take place in mid-May, requires the insertion of a Hickman line, a tube placed under the skin of his chest and into a large vein leading to his heart. This is attached to a bag of his donor's stem cells.

“The whole process will probably take a few hours,” Tarryn says.