The family of a cancer-stricken four-year-old say their life has become a “rollercoaster” as they try to secure her a life-saving stem cell transplant.
Adeline Davidson, from Alness, was due to undergo a long-awaited procedure to cure her of a rare form of blood cancer two weeks ago.
However, with just days to go, her parents Steph, 26, and Jordan, 28, received a phone call telling them it was cancelled.
“We got to the point of doing the pre-transplant checks and we were all ready to go for the following week for the start of chemo,” the heartbroken mum explained.
“Then we got a phone call with six days to go until the transplant saying the donor had given their cells, but there was not enough quantity.
“For the donor being an adult and Adeline being a child, there should never have been a lack of cells so that was a shocker for everyone.
“Our consultant said it doesn’t happen often so we just sat there and thought everything that is not supposed to happen, or is weird, happens to us.”
She added: “It hits you hard every time you get a setback. I thought we were totally jinxed.”
As consultants considered returning to Adeline’s previous donor in a bid to try again, the family secured fresh hope in the form of a new donor on the register.
Adeline is now due to receive her transplant at the beginning of next year.
The family are hoping this anonymous donor will be “third time” lucky.
The mum said: “Honestly, it’s just like a rollercoaster. You’re up and you’re down and you’re thrown about the place.
“They have found a new donor for Adeline on the register which has just come on in the last three months. This one is a better match, which is brilliant.
“It’s not 100% yet as the person will have to go through all the tests but it’s looking good.”
Earlier this year, the Alness family were ecstatic after finding two viable donors, however their world came crumbling down when they became unsuitable.
Mrs Davidson is now appealing for people to continue signing up for the register to help save the lives of thousands of people waiting for that phone call.
She added: “We are in an unfortunate situation and we have had setbacks but there are still people out there who don’t have matches at all.
“We have had one that has gone down the drain and one that didn’t work so we are fortunate, in a sense, to even have other options.
“I would just like to remind people how important it is to sign up.”