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Miracle boy beats the odds
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| Rhys Harris |
MIRACLE boy Rhys Harris has defied the odds and is now free of the extremely rare genetic illness that should have killed him.
The Newbridge youngster suffered from nemo, a genetic disorder that leaves suffers with virtually no immune system and effects just 35 people in the world.
Pioneering treatment at Newcastle General Hospital saw the seven-year-old endure gruelling chemotherapy in a bid to kill off his immune system before transplanted bone marrow was injected.
Experts said the procedure, which in itself should have killed him, only had a 30 per cent chance of helping him.
He did survive, but his parents Kevin and Dawn Harris had to wait months to see if the bone marrow would kick-in and start producing the white cells to rebuild his immune system.
No-one knew what the outcome would be because the procedure had only been carried out a handful of times to nemo suffers and there was no evidence that it helped all patients.
But this week they received the news they never though would come through - the transplant was a success and he no longer had nemo.
12:40pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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