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Addenbrooke's Hospital children's bone marrow transplant service opens

Nikki Fox/BBC Libby and Will GrocottNikki Fox/BBC
Will Grocott's sister became a donor so he could undergo a bone marrow transplant

A new paediatric bone marrow transplant service has treated its first patient.

Will Grocott, 15, from Baldock, received treatment from the service at Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, for leukaemia.

Father Dan Grocott said his son needed to find a bone marrow donor match because "it was find a match or die".

Amanda Cahn, from Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), said the service would be of "major value" across East Anglia as the first of its kind in the region.

Will has acute myeloid leukaemia and was diagnosed in July 2021 before undergoing chemotherapy.

He said he knew a bone marrow transplant would make it "much more likely to just move on" from his illness.

The teenager said it was "really important" to be around familiar people while undergoing the procedure.

Libby and Will Grocott hugging
Will was able to return home after his bone marrow transplant treatment was finished

Patients in East Anglia have historically been referred to Bristol, London, or further afield for such treatment, according to CUH.

Bone marrow transplantation involves eliminating a patient's bone marrow with chemotherapy and replacing it with stem cells from a healthy donor or collected from the patient earlier in time.

"I'd reached a point where we had to find a match - there wasn't an alternative. It was find a match or die," said Dan Grocott, Will's dad.

A donor match was found in Will's 17-year-old sister, Libby Grocott, and the transplantation went ahead before Will returned home 100 days later.

Ms Grocott said: "It was quite nice to be able to actually know that I was contributing and helping.

"I have no memory of what life was like before him ... he's my best friend and I tell him everything about my life."

Steve Hubbard/BBC Jen, Will, Libby and Dan GrocottSteve Hubbard/BBC
Dan Grocott said it was a "relief" his daughter was a match for a bone marrow transplant

Mr Grocott said being at Addenbrooke's Hospital for the treatment meant they could "keep some semblance of family life going".

"That would've just gone out the window if we'd had to go somewhere else," he added.

CUH consultant paediatric haematologist and specialty lead Dr Emmy Dickens said: "For many years we have had to refer our paediatric patients to other hospitals across the country for this most intensive and high risk element of their treatment.  

"It is wonderful to now have the opportunity to make use of the existing skills and experience within the trust, with additional NHSE funding to bring in new staff to look after our own patients closer to home," she added.

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