09/05/2023
This week we will be sharing the story of a very special little girl from Strabane, Emma Harpur. Emma was just 10 years old when she was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia. Aplastic Anemia is a rare and serious condition that occurs when your body stops producing enough new blood cells – red cells, white cells and platelets. Around 30 – 40 children are diagnosed with it in the UK each year.
Despite two bone marrow transplants and numerous blood and platelet transfusions, Emma sadly passed away on 4th December 2021, less than a year after she was first diagnosed.
During Emma’s illness, her family members were inspired to become platelet and blood donors and still do so now in Emma’s memory. Since starting to donate platelets, Emma’s family have donated approximately 77 doses, helping to save hundreds of lives.
On Wednesday Emma should have been celebrating her 12th Birthday. Over the course of the week, we will be sharing more of Emma and her family’s story and on Friday we will be speaking to her family members who are coming up to our HQ for another platelet donation.
Emma’s family and friends have also ran a local promotion campaign encouraging donors to come forward for both platelets and regular blood donations. To register as a blood donor, you can text the code Blood EH to 60081 and it will be registered in Emma’s memory.
