For most toddlers, any trip to the doctor’s is a nightmare – whether it’s for a vaccine or a temperature check.
And so, when tests showed four-year-old Michael DeMasi Jr was the only bone marrow match to save the lives of his infant twin brothers, his mother was concerned that it might be too terrifying for him.
Robin Pownall shared how she witnessed the love her kids have for each other. Robin and her fiancé already have two older boys –Dominick, 9, and Michael, 4. But in 2017, the couple received news that they would be expecting not one but two babies.
On October 14, the twin boys Santino and Giovanni were born prematurely. They spent five weeks in the NICU before going home.
The twins had already spent ten 10 days with the family when the result came out that they were both positive for Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD). CGD is a rare immune disorder that affects part of the immune system. With the CGD, the twins were incapable of fighting certain infections.
The only option to cure them, and save them from a lifetime in and out of hospital, was a bone marrow transplant – a heavy procedure for a child that involves removing stem cells from the donor and transplanting them in the recipient.
Luckily, middle child Michael was the perfect match for his twin brothers for a bone marrow transplant.
To everyone’s amazement, Michael didn’t hesitate for a second: having been the baby of the family for years, he was excited to be a hero for his brothers.
When they told Michael that he was the match and that he could save his little brothers’ lives, Michael said, without a doubt, “I’m gonna give them my bone marrow!” For a 4-year-old, Michael’s courage was unimaginable.
On March 8, he got his cells extracted, which were then transplanted into his brothers, who were able to come home from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for the first time in their lives on May 1.
The family has been through a long and stressful experience, but today the twins are currently at home and doing well.
Source:
faithtrend.com, edition.cnn.com
