Harvey's only chance of survival was a stem cell transplant
Harvey was diagnosed with a rare, life threatening disease, called Hurler's syndrome.
Without treatment he would not have survived.
Harvey began to show signs of suffering from asthma when he was only a few months old.
However, when his asthma didn’t respond to conventional treatment, further tests were carried out and at 9 months old, he was diagnosed with Hurler’s syndrome.
Hurler’s syndrome is a rare, life threatening disease and occurs when the body fails to produce a particular enzyme and without treatment he would not have survived.
Harvey began enzyme replacement therapy to try and halt the disease while the search for a stem cell match began.
A search of the stem cell registries showed that a match was available in a cord blood unit in Germany.
It was hoped that a member of Harvey’s family might be a suitable bone marrow match for him but unfortunately no one was a close enough match.
Thankfully though, a search of the stem cell registries showed that a match was available in a cord blood unit in Germany. Within weeks Harvey received his life saving cord blood transplant and was home again just six weeks after his treatment.