Jaydi-Rose is one of 60 people in the world that has been diagnosed with a rare condition that destroyed her immune system. This has resulted in her needing a bone marrow transplant at just 5 years old.
Jaydi-Rose’s local hospital in Devon was unable to provide her with the specialist treatment she needed, so she was transferred to the Great North Children’s Hospital (GNCH) in Newcastle – one of only two specialist centres in the UK that could help Jaydi-Rose.
Jaydi-Rose travelled to the GNCH with her mum Lisa. She went through nine days of chemotherapy before her bone marrow transplant. Despite it being hard for Lisa to see her daughter go through such tough treatment, she said Jaydi-Rose was a ‘real fighter’ throughout both the chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant.
Jaydi-Rose had to spend over three months at GNCH after the transplant to be closely monitored and was kept in a sterile bubble isolated from any risk of infection. Despite this, Lisa still made sure that they celebrated Jaydi-Rose’s 6th birthday to keep her spirits up.
Jaydi-Rose responded well to the treatment and her consultants agreed that she could finally leave the sterile bubble and move to a local hospital where she could receive further specialist care closer to home. However, Jaydi-Rose was still fragile from treatment and needed to be kept in an infection-free environment whilst she travelled the 360 miles home. This ruled out the option for her and Lisa to travel to Devon by road ambulance or by a commercial plane.
Her consultants at GNCH contacted Lucy Air Ambulance for Children (Lucy AAC) to ask if they could fly Jaydi-Rose back to Devon in their air ambulance. The consultants knew this would be the safest way for her to travel the long distance as the planes Lucy AAC use could provide an infection-free environment for Jaydi-Rose.
Lucy AAC flew Jaydi-Rose back to Devon with her mum by her side. Lisa said that she loved the flight and settled in at her local hospital really quickly. She says: ‘I can’t thank Lucy Air Ambulance for Children enough for getting us back to Devon. Everyone who helped with the transfer was so friendly and supportive.’
Jaydi-Rose spent a further two months at The Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital receiving specialist care. After a six month stay in hospital, Jaydi-Rose were finally able to return home and settle back in to their everyday life.
