Sick orphan to receive free bone marrow transplant

A 4-year-old mentally disabled orphan suffering from a life-threatening bone marrow disorder will receive a free stem cell transplant Wednesday at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University.

The hospital and the Shanghai Cord Blood Bank will sponsor the 500,000-yuan ($81,480) procedure to save a child who has already drawn the short straw in life.

The boy, whom the blood bank called Zhouzhou, was diagnosed of myelofibrosis after he was found abandoned on the street in Jing'an district in October 2012, according to a press release from the Shanghai Cord Blood Bank.

Myelofibrosis disrupts the body's ability to produce blood cells and can be life-threatening, according to the Mayo Clinic in the US.

"The boy's life could be in danger a year from now if he does not get the transplant," said Zhang Jiaqing, the vice minister of the Clinical Service Department at the Shanghai Cord Blood Bank.

Zhouzhou's case is also notable because it is rare to find the disorder in someone so young.

"The disease most often appears in middle-aged and elderly people from 50 years old to 70 years old," Zhang told the Global Times.

The boy has relied on regular blood transfusions to keep him alive, though he is currently in critical condition, according to the press release.

Zhang said that the cord blood bank and the hospital have decided to sponsor the transplant to spare the Shanghai Children's Welfare Center's orphanage medical fund the expense of such a costly treatment.

The cost of the stem cell samples, the transplant and the post-surgery medical care will be about 500,000 yuan.

Zhouzhou will have to remain in the hospital for observation for about two months. He will stay in a germ-free room during that time.

The hospital has also pledged to give him free medical care if his body rejects the transplanted stem cells, Zhang said.

Rejection usually occurs within a year after a transplant takes place.