Liya Gümüşöz at 21 months old was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare and aggressive type of cancer which affects one in 3,100 people.
Liya’s parents, who are originally from Turkey but now live in Twickenham, first noticed something was wrong at the start of the year.
Liya became tired more easily, lost her appetite and had unusual bruising on her body.
It was when Liya began to have difficulty walking that her parents knew something was not right and at the start of April she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
Liya was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London as the pandemic took hold.
She began chemotherapy, but is alone is not enough to beat the leukaemia.
But great news come this week as it’s been announced Baby Liya blood works have come back with a 100% match to her father’s steam cells.
Saying that this is now a ‘big step’ in her recovery and how doctors are pleased with Baby Liya process in a social media post, her mother Hatice thanked everyone for their support and the staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Blood stem cell donor
Blood cancer is the fifth most common type of cancer in the UK, with someone being diagnosed every 20 minutes.
Only 2% of the UK population are on the blood stem cell donor register, and the number of people signing up as potential donors has drastically fallen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
To find out more about the blood stem cell donor register you can visit https://www.dkms.org.uk/en