Ali Mercy was only 8 years-of-age when diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (ALL), a potentially life-threatening form of cancer. After many months of treatment, doctors informed his father Abrahim that a stem cell transplant would be required for Ali’s survival.
Unfortunately, the family was located in the city of Dubai and stem cell transplants are not available in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yet. They would need to travel to another country for Ali to receive a transplant.
In most cases, the UAE government sends citizens to Germany for stem cell transplants. However, because Abrahim was a native of India, his son wasn’t eligible to receive treatment in a German hospital.
Abrahim was desperate to obtain help for his son, so he began contacting medical officials throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. Fortunately, Dr. Leslie Lehmann, clinical director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Center at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, responded and said she could help.
As Abrahim explained: “Dr. Lehmann immediately got back to me and said that Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s would treat Ali.”
In early 2014, Abrahim and Ali traveled from Dubai to Boston to receive treatment. It was a lengthy trip of more than 6,000 miles and was an exciting time for Ali as he had never seen snow before.
Although a perfect stem cell match could not be found, Ali still had a successful stem cell transplant. Doctors used partial match stem cells from an unrelated umbilical cord donor. It is easier to perform partial match transplants when using cord blood stem cells as they are less likely to trigger immune system rejection.
After dealing with some minor complications, Ali’s cancer went into remission. The family even moved to Mansfield, Mass and Ali began attending high school.
Dr. Lehmann was particularly impressed by Ali’s stoic attitude, saying: “Ali has such a beautiful and resilient spirit – he gave 100% effort towards his own recovery every day, and that inspired everyone one in his team.”
Source: Stem Cell Transplant Helps Boy with Leukemia to Remission – and New Home
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