Achievement of spinal cord aplasia, this little girl “no longer has red blood cells, more white food and more plates”.
Until this summer 2025, Eléonore’s life was all that is normal for a 4 -year -old child. On vacation with her grandparents, she spent her days playing the Mickey club. But one day, she returns with a few bruises. “At the end of the week, she was covered”tells us about Dr Anne-Laure Rousseau, family friend. The club director alerts his grandparents: “This little girl is not doing well. “ Supported in the hospital, it passes several exams and the diagnosis falls quickly: Eléonore has a spinal cord aplasia, a rare and serious disease which implies stopping the functioning of its bone marrow. Bone marrow is essential to life.
“It has no red blood cells, no white blood cells and no gold platelets The platelets allow the blood to coagulate”, explains Dr. Rousseau. This is why the little girl had so many bruises. “At the start, doctors do not know why she has this disease, if it is constitutional or if it is acquired” continues the doctor. “It is very fragile, it must be transfused often. It must be protected so as not to catch infections (as it has no white blood cells so no immune defenses, editor’s note). She could not return to kindergarten, it’s very difficult for her and her family.”
Eléonore can heal if it finds a compatible bone marrow donor. “The identity card of her blood is rare, her parents and his family are not compatible. There are 1 in 1 million chance of being compatible with her. We are looking for this donor, in France, in the world. He is the only person to be able to give Eléonore a chance to live” supports the doctor. How do you know if you are compatible with Eléonore? The first thing to know is that it is necessary to be between 18 and 35 years old to register as bone marrow donor. “You have to pass the message in universities” defends Dr. Rousseau, relay it on social networks “And talk about it around yourself. Being an ambassador for bone marrow donation is already great”.
If you are between 18 and 35 years old and are in perfect health, you just have to go to the Biomedicine Agency site to register for the donation of bone marrow. You will then have to carry out a salivary sample or a blood test to establish the “biological identity card” of your blood. This is what allows you to know if you are compatible with Eléonore or with another patient awaiting a stem cell transplant (cells present in the bone marrow). If so, the biomedicine agency will contact you. In 80% of cases, the donation is made by blood sample and lasts between 3 and 4 hours. In 20%, it is done directly in the bones of the basin, under anesthesia. “And the bone marrow regenerates” reassures Dr. Rousseau. These few hours can save the life of Eléonore, or from another patient awaiting a transplant.
