There are a lot of illnesses that affect children. Some of them are more serious than others. One little girl got a pretty rough start in life. Leah was born with severe congenital neutropenia. She has suffered through bone marrow transplants and serious infections.
Despite it all, she has kept her love for and faith in God, so much so that she loves to sing songs about him.
Her mother recently shared a video of the young girl singing. In the video description, she wrote:
“She’s an overcomer. Septic shock, Two bone marrow transplants, graft vs. Host disease and 325 days away from home in the hospital. God is so good to us through it all and Leah is proof of his mercy and grace! I do not own the rights to this song.”
Severe congenital neutropenia is a serious health problem.
According to WebMD:
“Severe congenital neutropenia is a condition that causes affected individuals to be prone to recurrent infections. People with this condition have a shortage (deficiency) of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that plays a role in inflammation and in fighting infection.”
Leah was born with the condition. She had her first bone marrow transplant on Feb. 7, 2014, and her second on March 29, 2016.
After her first transplant, she developed graft vs. host disease. With this disease, the recipient’s body starts to reject or fight the transplant. It can cause a variety of symptoms and can even be fatal. Leah beat that, too, and is now doing much better.
Leah’s mother has created a Facebook page to share her story with others.
She hopes that it will help other parents who are dealing with the same condition or a similar one. She also uses social media as a way to keep people updated on her daughter’s condition. One recent post says:
“Disorders like neutropenia cannot be cured through diet or supplements or wheat grass (yes, wheat grass) Disorders like neutropenia do not grow from a mass of diseased cells. As well as they don’t shrink when treated properly. Plain and simple, my daughter’s blood was broken.
“Our body needs 5 white blood cells to properly function and keep us healthy. Leah did not make one of those blood cells called a neutrophil. Neutrophils are made in the bone marrow and are the first line of defense when it comes to fighting bacterial infections. The only cure for my daughter was a bone marrow transplant.”
She then used an analogy about a broken car to help people understand Leah’s condition better.
“If you will, if something breaks in your car, you replace it. If a belt stops working, you don’t head to the gas station to buy better fuel. If a light burns out, you replace it. You don’t put a solar panel on top of your car to reproduce that energy.
“My daughter is not a car but something in her was broken. There weren’t alternatives in fixing it. It had to be replaced. Now don’t get me wrong… I know for the most part that people genuinely want to offer their help and in personal circumstances when something has worked for them they truly want it to work for everybody else.
“I just wanted to take the opportunity to educate those who may not understand that not every disease grows. Not every disease can be fought with alternative methods. Western medicine is a blessing to people like Leah.”
Leah still has a lot to overcome.
However, she has a lot of support from her family and from strangers who have heard her story and are following it. This little girl has come a long way since her first bone marrow transplant.
Leah’s family hopes that her story will convince other people to consider signing up to become a bone marrow donor.
While Leah was lucky enough to have two donors, there are still thousands of children that are waiting for donors.
Leah’s first donor bought her more time, and her second donor helped save her life. Leah’s family wants other sick children to have the same second chance as Leah.
Watch her sweet video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
She’s an overcomer. Septic shock, Two bone marrow transplants, graft vs. Host disease and 325 days away from home in the hospital. God is so good to us through it all and Leah is proof of his mercy and grace! I do not own the rights to this song.
Posted by Prayers and Love for Leah on Sunday, February 5, 2017
