Harriet

Told by mum, Helen.

Harriett was born in July 2015, she was a healthy, vibrant baby who ate and slept really well.

Life was pretty much perfect for a few weeks, then little things started to go wrong. An eye infection one week, a nappy infection the next, severe eczema, followed by skin infections. I was very particular when caring for Harriett, always keeping her clean and dry, and away from sick people so I started to have sleepless nights about whether there was something more sinister going on. Things escalated and she started to drop weight and develop bruises. After a couple of hospital admissions, it became apparent that Harriett had an issue with her immune system and quite quickly we found ourselves on Ward 3 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, over 3 hours from home in Cheshire.

Harriett had, has, I'm never sure what word to use here, but I go with had. Harriett had SCID - She was Rag 2 Omenns syndrome which is a type of SCID that causes severe eczema. Harriett was treated for pneumonia and her skin was brought under control straight away and suddenly we had our happy little girl back. The team were amazing with ensuring that she was comfortable and improving all the time.

Harriett then had a Bone Marrow Transplant in April 2016. Unfortunately for us Harriett was one of the very unlucky babies that got severe acute GVHD in her liver, gut and skin, she was very, very poorly. A rapid decision was made to retransplant using a new method which removes the T cells that cause GVHD - using her dad as a donor. The type of transplant was called Alpha Beta T cell depletion Haplo Allo Transplant. We were told that never in the world had a child undergone chemotherapy for another transplant whilst in Liver failure and with such bad skin and guts from GVHD - we were told our odds were 100 or 0. We would know within 3 weeks. We were encouraged that this new type of transplant was very successful and the team around us were confident. Harriett was also given an amazing prophylactic drug to protect her liver. Harriett had here transplant in September 2016. She flew through the transplant and was in a halfway house within 3 weeks. The relief was not only ours but was also very apparent on the faces of the doctors, nurses and healthcare team around us. We owe everything to the team on Ward 3 and the NHS for the chance we were given when they retransplanted Harriett. We spent 11 months in Newcastle.

Harriett is now 10 years old (July 2025) and while she has a few ongoing niggles, she is a walking miracle. Harriett rides ponies most days, competes at high level and will be competing two ponies at Horse of the Year Show in October.