Cape Town - When Ameera Campbell was pregnant with her second child, she stored the baby’s umbilical cord stem cells, knowing it could help her first-born one day.
Campbell said while pregnant with her daughter, she was told of cord blood stem cells that could one day help her daughter, Aliyah, 6, who was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma stage 3 in February 2020.
She has since had a five-hour operation to remove the tumour, 25 intensive sessions of chemotherapy and 28 sessions of radiation, as well as six sessions of maintenance chemotherapy.
“My daughter, Aliyah, was diagnosed when she was four, and while I was pregnant with my second daughter, Humairal, I went for a pregnancy scan, and a staff member asked me if I knew about cord blood stem cells and said I must do research on it. I didn't know what it could do. I had heard of it and did my research.
“We then decided it was something we wanted to do, and we began a Backabuddy account to raise funds. Netcells saw the post and approached us to be part of the Families of Hope programme.
“We have taken the cord blood stem cells from my daughter Humairal and Aliyah is now in remission, and there is no need for it, but it is there for peace of mind should we need it one day.
“During my hospital visits with my daughter, I saw so many mothers who were pregnant, and many do not know how many lives can be saved.
Next Biosciences and Netcells Stem Cell Bank run the Families of HOpe Programme, and Chief Medical Officer Dr Yvonne Holt said umbilical cord blood stem cells could be used to treat many life-threatening diseases such as Thalassaemia, sickle cell anaemia, aplastic anaemia; cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and solid tumours of childhood; metabolic and immune disorders.
There have been 24 cord blood stem cell transplants in South Africa and 40 000 worldwide.
Holt said they were hoping to create awareness about this procedure which does not harm the baby during extraction from the cord.
“Internationally, cord blood stem cells can be sourced from public banks that collect cord blood from voluntary donations. Since we don’t have a local public stem cell bank in South Africa, it puts South African patients at a greater disadvantage as bringing in cord blood units from overseas is prohibitively expensive,” she said.
“In the past, the cost associated with private stem cell banking has posed a barrier. However, the launch of Netcells’ Community Stem Cell Bank in partnership with the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) – the only bank of its kind in the country – offers parents the opportunity to store their baby’s cord blood at a significantly reduced rate. The cord blood unit can then either be used by the family themselves or by someone else in the community who may need a lifesaving transplant.
“This will greatly improve transplant options for SA’s diverse demographic, as it can be difficult to find a bone marrow stem cell match for patients of African origin, given the lack of donors from these communities. It’s important to educate all South Africans regarding the importance of building a donor base that can serve all members of our community.
“Alternatively, parents can choose to go the private cord blood banking route and pay the full price to have their baby’s cord unit stored exclusively for their child or family’s use.”
* If you want to help little Aliyah with her day to day needs, please visit: https://www.backabuddy.co.za/aliyah-campbell