Family count double blessings

Andrew Jones with his sister Donella Forsythe and Donella's baby Max. Picture / Bay Of Plenty Times

Donella Forsythe has given her family two lives this year - she has saved her brother Andrew's life by donating bone marrow and given birth to her first child.

At one stage, just a few months ago, both lives were in the balance as Donella had the donor operation under general anaesthetic while almost three months pregnant.

But now there is no doubt this Christmas will be extra special for the Jones family - Andrew is on the mend and baby Max is in good health.

Things became grim when Andrew, 18, relapsed in March after what had seemed to be a one-year winning fight against leukaemia.

His parents, Shona and Trevor Jones, of Maungatapu in Tauranga, were at their other son Vaughan's bedside in Timaru Hospital as he lay critically ill and not expected to live. The 21-year-old had broken his leg and post-operative septicaemia had set in.

Not wanting to add to her parents' distress, Donella chose not to tell them immediately that Andrew had relapsed, taking him to Waikato Hospital herself for treatment.

She contacted the specialists to find out if she could donate bone marrow, knowing she was compatible and Vaughan was not, and told them she and husband Jeff (Freddy) Forsythe were expecting their first child.

"I knew he had relapsed, then I found out I was pregnant. I thought I wouldn't be able to donate if I was pregnant.

"I contacted the specialists at Waikato Hospital but I didn't know how much treatment Andrew had already had. Luckily, it all fell together within a few weeks," she said matter-of-factly.

Her parents returned to Tauranga as soon as Vaughan pulled through but she kept her pregnancy secret from them until she had worked out the bone marrow transplant possibilities.

"She was told it would have to take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy," her mother recalled.

"Andrew's chemotherapy programme had to be compressed down a wee bit," added her father, Trevor.

"It was traumatic when she told us she was pregnant - the thrill of our first grandchild and the fear of her losing her baby under anaesthetic," said Mrs Jones.

To make matters worse, Trevor Jones had to go into hospital himself for melanoma surgery, increasing the pressure on the family.

But the bone marrow transplant was given the go-ahead and with the blessing of her husband, Donella lay in Auckland Hospital under general anaesthetic while surgeons drilled two holes into the back of her lower pelvis to extract bone marrow.

Andrew lay prepped in Starship Hospital - the only available place - but the 45-minute exchange turned into a 36-hour nightmare for the family. The pair's bone marrow matched but not their blood types.

Blood bank staff had to work overtime to overcome the obstacle.

"There was no second chance for Andrew," Trevor Jones said.

"The final preparation for the transplant is a fatal dose of chemotherapy, then they rely on the new bone marrow working."

Six months of life-threatening complications followed for Andrew but by last month he was starting to get on top of it and, although not yet out of the woods, is feeling stronger.

"I thought I wouldn't be seeing this Christmas. A lot of the time I couldn't handle it.

"I thought it was a possibility that I was going to die, that the doctors were hiding the truth from me," he said.

When asked why she had done it for her brother, Donella replied humbly: "You've got to, really. I never hesitated.

"You worry about the baby the whole time until he was born because of the anaesthetics. We were all relieved to see Max born safe and well in Tauranga Hospital on December 9."

Donella now plans to return to her graphic design business, Donella Jones Design, and Andrew will help out with Max.

"She's given us two lives this year," said her mother, "her brother's and a first grandchild for us.

"We'll all be together for Christmas, far from what we were thinking six months ago. It's been a very rocky year."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES