THE FAMILY of a three-year-old boy suffering from a rare bone marrow condition yesterday expressed surprise and gratitude at the public response to an appeal for donors who might be compatible for a life-saving transplant.
Roads surrounding the Lakatamia Amphitheatre outside Nicosia were filled on Wednesday night as hundreds of volunteers queued up to donate blood in the hope of finding a bone marrow match to help three-year-old Sofoclis Frangou.
The boy’s father, Demetris Frangou, said yesterday he was surprised and delighted after over 600 people turned up to donate blood, queuing between 7pm and midnight. Another collection was due to take place last night.
Sofoclis’ family hails from Dikomo in the occupied north, and Demetris Frangou yesterday appealed to fellow villagers to come forward, as a match is most likely to be found amongst them.
Sofoclis is suffering from Myelofibrosis, a disorder in which bone marrow is replaced by scar tissue. It is usually found in people over the age of 50. Sofoclis is the first child in the world to be diagnosed with the disorder. His symptoms include anaemia, which occurs when bone marrow does not produce sufficient platelets necessary for normal blood clotting cells.
“This disease needs a long follow-up,” said Dr. Loizos Loizou, the doctor looking after Sofoclis. Loizou and a colleague from Israel will be watching Sofoclis carefully while he undergoes blood transfusions.
The Karaiskakio Transplant Centre in Nicosia has asked that only people from Dikomo step forward to be tested for a match. Anyone wanting to become a donor can contact the Transplant Centre on 02-772700 for further information.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
