Brother may save teen from rare double cancer

By Megan Harrison
A Tauranga teenager has been diagnosed with two types of leukemia - something doctors say has been seen only once before in the world.
Now his adopted brother may hold the key to saving his life.
Haiden Holloway, 15, thought he had the mumps when he went to Tauranga Hospital on December 18 last year.
But he was subsequently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a form of cancer most often found in children, and immediately sent to Waikato Hospital in Hamilton to begin chemotherapy.
It was there that Dr Gillian Corbett found Haiden also had acute myeloid leukemia, the form more commonly found in adults.
"It's not that he has one rare from of leukemia, but a combination of things that makes his case so unusual," said Dr Corbett.
"He's quite a remarkable boy, in more ways than one."
The final element that contributes to Haiden's almost unique condition is a genetic change, or mutation, Dr Corbett believes may be connected to the cancer.
"We're not quite sure where it came from," she said. "But we know that it has been associated with this form of cancer before."
If you ask Haiden, though, he seems largely unimpressed with the rarity of his condition and has a much more concise way of explaining it. "It sucks," he said.
Haiden is on a break from Ward 25 at Waikato Hospital.
He's just finished his third round of chemotherapy and has spent the past 10 days resting at his aunt's place in Tauranga while his mother, Sharree, searches for a house closer to the hospital. She is sleeping on a cot next to Haiden's bed, "driving him nuts, in the best way possible", said Alana Collinson, Haiden's aunt.
Haiden has also spent his time in Tauranga taking part in a project first developed for him by Ms Collinson and her partner, Toby Gollop, as a Christmas present.
Both Haiden and Mr Gollop are huge fans of Rotahavik, a website dedicated to rotary engine cars, first developed by Mazda in the 1960s.
A 1981 Honda DX wagon sits in the driveway of Ms Collinson's home and will be converted to a rotary for Haiden through donations from the website.
"Once we found out Haiden had leukemia we knew we wanted to do something for him," said Ms Collinson.
"I thought up the idea of doing a rotary and Toby said 'why don't I donate one of my motors and one of my cars and we can start a project for him'."
Two days before Christmas Ms Collinson and Mr Gollop put Haiden's story and the basics of the project up on the Rotahavik message board and were overwhelmed by the response.
"Within hours people were going 'yeah, I'll donate this or that'," said Ms Collinson.
She and Mr Gollop are still looking for a few remaining parts to complete the project and are also interested in getting local rotary specialists to help assemble the car.
As for Haiden, following his break in Tauranga, he'll be heading to Auckland to catch up with his brother Tremaine Jack Kino. The pair will be going through a final series of tests in hopes of finding a bone marrow match for what could potentially be a life-saving transplant. Despite being adopted, Tremaine is still Haiden's best chance for a match.
"I think it's somewhere around 90 per cent," said Ms Collinson. "We're keeping our fingers crossed."
Dr Corbett said it was far too early to tell if and how Haiden's cancer would advance but said his progress to date has been "remarkable".
"He's coped extremely well," she said, adding that having a strong network of support also helps the process.
"He's got a nice family and his mates are always around," she said. "He's definitely well known in Ward 25."
Anyone wishing to help in any way with Haiden's rotary car project can call or email Alana and Toby at 021 963332 or alana-c@xtra.co.nz