2-year-old Thor Uran is a playful little kid who loves to kiss his little sister Lila. Although Thor doesn’t realise it yet — he owes his life to Lila who was the donor for a life-saving cord blood transplant he recently received.

Thor was born with a condition called Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD). It is an inherited primary immunodeficiency disease (PIDD) that makes infections from certain bacteria and fungi more likely. CGD makes it difficult for certain cells in the body to produce the hydrogen peroxide that is required by the immune system.

Children born with this condition are often healthy at birth but develop severe infections when exposed to some types of bacteria and fungi. The infections can be life-threatening and cause some serious symptoms including abscesses on internal organs, skin infections, and bone infections.

Children with this condition cannot do many of the things that normal children do, like play in the dirt — because they cannot risk the exposure to bacteria or fungi in the soil.

A stem cell transplant can be used to “reboot” the immune system, making it capable of fighting off bacteria and fungi. The procedure was performed at Duke University, where they have an outstanding stem cell research program.

Although stem cell transplants are becoming common, this one was slightly unusual.  Thor’s parents knew that his sister could save is life before she was born. Doctors did tests that confirmed she did not also carry the condition and they knew she would be a likely stem cell match. This because siblings are very likely to be stem cell compatible — a 25% chance of full compatibility and a 50% chance of partial compatibility.

The first stage in the treatment involved Thor receiving a very strong regiment of chemotherapy treatments. Those treatments destroyed his immune system. He then received a stem cell transplant from his sister, which began producing new blood cells and rebuilding his immune system. After receiving the transplant, his immune system was in a weakened condition and he had to spend weeks in a sterile environment.

Today, he is a healthy and happy child who is completely free of the disease. He can now play in the dirt as much as he wants!

Source: Doctors perform unique cord-blood transplant to save boy

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