The family of a five-year-old Muslim boy from Blackburn has issued an appeal to register as bone marrow donors to help the kid suffering from a life-threatening condition.
Eesa Hussain suffers from aplastic anaemia, requires chemotherapy, and then a bone marrow transplant, Lancashire Telegraph reported.
“There are huge misconceptions around bone marrow donations and we wanted to share our experiences so people are aware of what it actually entails and how a simple stem cell donation could help someone’s life, not just Eesa’s,” Mosan Hussain, Eesa’s father, said.
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Mosan said Eesa, who only started at primary school in September, fell ill in early December, and he used to come back from school very tired.
Later after several medical checks, he was diagnosed with very severe aplastic anaemia, a condition in which the Bone Marrow doesn’t produce any red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets.
If a patient has a condition that affects their bone marrow or blood, then a stem cell transplant may be their best chance of survival.
Doctors will give new, healthy stem cells to the patient via their bloodstream, where the goal is they begin to grow and create healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.
Appeal for Donors
Failing to find a match, the family called for more people from the South Asian community aged 16 to 30 to register with stem cell transplant charity Anthony Nolan.
“There really are a lot of things people do not know about donations,” Mosan said.
“In South Asian communities in particular people need to know more about what it entails. There is not enough information out there.
“Some people think they have to donate something which will impact their life but it is simply not the case.
“It is very similar to just giving blood and it could help save someone’s life; the stem cells regenerate themselves and you are able to go back to work within a week.”
Blood transfusion for medical purposes is permissible in Islam. Muslims should feed the hungry, take care of the sick, and save the lives of people.
Allah tells us that “If anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole humanity.” Quran 5:32
It is also permissible to take blood from a non-Muslim and it is permissible to give blood to non-Muslims. These matters are related to human life.