Brother set to donate his bone marrow to his younger sister who has leukaemia to save her life

Cassie Buckland was diagnosed with an aggressive type of leukaemia just months after she turned 18 and she has spent most of her time since then at Southampton General Hospital undergoing treatment.

The teenager, who worked at John’s Cafe, Hayling Island, has had to have three rounds of chemotherapy and battle numerous infections as a result of her being so unwell – but there is hope.

She is set to have a bone marrow transplant on March 31, after her brother, Mason, 20, was found to be a perfect match, and the treatment could save Cassie’s life.

Their mum, Hayley, said: ‘Her brother Mason is a full match, 12/12, which is quite rare so now we are just waiting and we will have to see if the transplant works and if she takes it.

‘There are a lot of risks to both which as a parent it is scary but they have both been read the risks and he is aware of everything. He is saving his sister’s life and without the transplant it could be very different for her – he is doing an amazing thing.’

Cassie was coming out in bruises and constantly felt unwell, and although she had had multiple blood tests taken it was not known what was wrong until her mum requested to see the test results.

Hayley, who previously worked in oncology, knew the minute that she saw the results that it was something sinister and it was discovered that Cassie had leukaemia.

SEE ALSO: Hayling Island community rallies around 18-year-old Cassie who has been diagnosed with leukemia

Hayley added: ‘The first round of chemotherapy that she had didn’t work so she did a second lot of chemotherapy which worked luckily so it meant that she only had five per cent leukemia cells and she has just done another round of chemo before her transplant.

‘She is definitely made of strong stuff, she is scared and worried but she knows that it’s what she needs.’

The doctors have told the family that providing the transplant goes well, it will take at least two years for her to get back to a version of normality and she will still need to be cautious when mixing with others.

The Hayling Island community rallied last year to raise funds for Cassie so that while she is in the hospital she can get anything she needs. More than £4,000 has been raised for her.

Hayley said that the money has been a massive help and that it has meant that her family can travel to and from the hospital, and that Cassie can get food from the shop at the hospital.

Cassie was in the hospital from September last year to the beginning of January, where she was allowed to go home for three weeks and she has been back in since in order to get ready for the transplant.

Hayley added: ‘It is hard but we have stayed strong. It is something that we have had to do, we haven’t had a choice – we have got a long road ahead and this is just the beginning really.’

To learn more about bone marrow transplants, click the link.