Thanks to his older sister’s incredibly selfless deed, a 12-year-old boy is cancer-free.
After discovering that the bone marrow transplant he received from his 17-year-old sister Kaylee had been successful, Colton King had the opportunity to ring the cancer-free bell at AdventHealth for Children in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month.
“They reported that he is cancer-free. The mother of the siblings, Stacy King, said, “There’s no sign of leukemia and I just began sobbing like I couldn’t even speak.
Because the transplant was successful, Kaylee said, “it became such a relief and so much tension was lifted off.”
The medical nightmare started last summer when Colton, who is usually active, started to tire more quickly than normal. He learned heartbreaking news on his 12th birthday in July.
He would require a bone marrow transplant because he had been identified as having an incredibly rare type of leukemia.
The family would not discover that big sister Kaylee was a perfect match, however, for several months.
“We felt such a huge sense of relief. Since Colton’s immune system had already been destroyed and he needed Kaylee’s, I was simply pleading to God to keep Kaylee and her father safe as they traveled here, said Stacy.
Kaylee had a surgery on January 4 where her bone marrow was taken out. The life-saving transplant was performed on her sibling the following day.
All the family could do after the operation, which is comparable to a blood transfusion, was wait to see if Colton’s body would accept his sister’s bone marrow.
The King family didn’t find out that the transplant was successful until lately.
Buddy just kind of burst out into this when I said, “Buddy, you have no more leukemia, like your cells are 100% Kaylee’s, and you are cancer-free. He broke into a big grin, and you could see the relief in his eyes and face,” Stacy said.
Even though the 12-year-old is presently cancer-free and much healthier than he was a few months ago, his immune system is incredibly frail.
He’ll have his bone marrow examined once more in a month and once more in two months. In a year, he will receive a final bone marrow test. The two major milestones and tasks to complete are the first 100 days and the subsequent year. His mother posted in a Facebook group, “Please continue to pray fervently the next 70 days and then year that his body will continue to function as it is meant to.
Colton has eventually been discharged from the hospital after several months. While Colton continues to recuperate, he and his mother have moved into the Ronald McDonald house next to the children’s hospital.
It’s very important to me. The significance of being able to save my brother’s life is something I’ll probably never be able to do again, his sister Kaylee said. “I know I probably can’t grasp how big and essential this is now,” she said.
The greatest gift of all was given to her sibling by Kaylee: life.
Kindly spread the word about this and say a prayer for Colton as his body heals.
