Alder Hey Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a> for blood and platelet transfusions.<\/p>\n![\"Ronnie's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Stem-cell-transplant.jpg\")
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Ronnie’s only hope of a cure is a stem cell transplant(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Laura said: \u201cThe room went quiet, our hearts were pounding, and then instantly our minds were jumping to the worst-case scenario and thinking how is my 11-month-old meant to battle such a deadly disease at such a young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a day that will forever be engraved in our minds, every time we hear sirens now it takes us back to that night of being blue lighted to Alder Hey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cancer was later ruled out, although doctors were struggling to test Ronnie\u2019s bone marrow as it was so sparse.<\/p>\n
The family was told his levels were at 5% with very few cells, when a baby his age should have 100%.<\/p>\n
A second test eventually revealed Ronnie had aplastic anaemia and his parents were told a bone marrow transplant would be his only hope of a cure. Aplastic anaemia can affect anyone at any age, but is more common in people aged between 10 and 20, and those over 60.<\/p>\n
Symptoms include tiredness, shortness of breath, headaches, bleeding from the nose or gums, and infections.<\/p>\n
![\"Ronnie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775056755_770_0_Stem-cell-transplant.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ronnie celebrating his first birthday(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
Laura said her son is still \u201chappy and smiling\u201d despite having infusions and injections to stimulate his bone marrow production.<\/p>\n
However, there is also a worry over infections as Ronnie has been diagnosed with neutropenia.<\/p>\n
This causes a type of white blood cell that is essential for fighting bacterial infections to become abnormally low.<\/p>\n
The family is working with the charity Anthony Nolan on the Register4Ronnie campaign.<\/p>\n
They hope this will encourage more people to join the stem cell register to help children like Ronnie, as well as youngsters with other conditions such as leukaemia.<\/p>\n
Laura said: “Now we have a diagnosis we have to do something to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many other kids out there who need a match, we are putting it out there for Ronnie and to educate people about the lifesaving potential of stem cell transplants.<\/p>\n
![\"Ronnie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775056755_105_0_Stem-cell-transplant.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ronnie in hospital(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing from Merseyside, we all stick together from here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sharing Ronnie\u2019s story because we want people to get tested, if a match comes up for him then great, but a match for someone else, that\u2019s amazing as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joining the Anthony Nolan register is free and is aimed at people aged between 16 and 30.<\/p>\n
After registering online, the charity will send out a swab pack, which can be posted back once completed.<\/p>\n
Laura added that the family is also aiming to raise awareness of aplastic anaemia, adding: \u201cNo-one\u2019s heard of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowena Bentley, head of programme and community recruitment at Anthony Nolan, said: \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking that baby Ronnie and his family are going through this, and we are doing our best to support them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Anthony Nolan we give hope to families affected by blood cancers and disorders, but we can\u2019t do it without the lifesavers that sign up to our register.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are aged 16-30, please sign up to the Anthony Nolan register online and send back your swabs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could be the match that someone like baby Ronnie needs to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baby Ronnie was given a devastating diagnosis days before his first birthday 00:01, 01 Apr 2026Updated 07:59, 01…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[125458,59,102,9052,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-507277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-alder-hey-childrens-hospital","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-parents","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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