"I'VE ALWAYS known that my younger sister loved me, but it never occurred to me that her love was so deep that she would put her life at risk for me."
This is how 16-year-old Akhona Xaba from Rietvlei in Umzimkhulu, southern KwaZulu-Natal, described the selfless love displayed by her younger sister, Yoliswa, who risked her life by donating her bone marrow.
Akhona was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia three years ago and had to find a donor for a bone marrow transplant. She received haemopietic stem cells from her 14-year-old sister after myeloablation.
Yoliswa's bravery and her immense love has earned her the respect of her entire family. Akhona is the recipient of the first allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplant performed at Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban.
After 14 days of the myeloablation procedure Xaba has been successfully engrafted and is clinically well. Sitting side by side with her sister on a hospital bed, an ecstatic Akhona said she never knew just how much her family loved her.
"Yoliswa has been an angel, she brought me hope and above all she brought my life back. I have a normal life like any other person now," a beaming Akhona said.
Her ordeal started when she experienced acute pain in her backbone in 2008.
"I was in and out of hospitals at the same time as my father, who died later in the year. My family, especially my mother, had to endure so much pain.
"But I'm very happy. I'm grateful to all the medical staff who took care of me all these years while trying to treat my sickness," Xaba said.
Shy Yoliswa said what she had done for her sister and her family came naturally.
"I'm no angel, but a human. When I was told my sister could be saved with my blood I agreed.
"My home was not the same without her. She was always sick and she had to drop out of school in 2009 due to her sickness," Yoliswa said.
"When doctors took me to hospital to save Akhona's life, I did not feel pain. It was not painful at all because all that mattered was her life over everything else.
" I told them that I wanted to go back home with my sister so that she could go back to school again."
Yoliswa was accompanied by her eldest sister Bongiwe, 30, to take Akhona home because their mother cannot afford transport. Akhona will have to visit the hospital for checkups for six months. Bongiwe said her family is very poor and do not know how they will be able to take Akhona to Durban every month.
"We are depending on God to pave the way for her full recovery."
The procedure was the first of its type to carried out at the hospital in Durban. Bone marrow transplants have been performed at Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital for the past 20 years.
Dr Jaimendra Singh, the head of clinical haematology and bone marrow transplantation, said they need more black donors on the SA Bone Marrow Registry to cope with demand. "Patients have been dying as they cannot afford to go to Cape Town."
Heroic girl saves sister
"I'VE ALWAYS known that my younger sister loved me, but it never occurred to me that her love was so deep that she would put her life at risk for me."
This is how 16-year-old Akhona Xaba from Rietvlei in Umzimkhulu, southern KwaZulu-Natal, described the selfless love displayed by her younger sister, Yoliswa, who risked her life by donating her bone marrow.
Akhona was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia three years ago and had to find a donor for a bone marrow transplant. She received haemopietic stem cells from her 14-year-old sister after myeloablation.
Yoliswa's bravery and her immense love has earned her the respect of her entire family. Akhona is the recipient of the first allogeneic haemopoietic stem cell transplant performed at Chief Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban.
After 14 days of the myeloablation procedure Xaba has been successfully engrafted and is clinically well. Sitting side by side with her sister on a hospital bed, an ecstatic Akhona said she never knew just how much her family loved her.
"Yoliswa has been an angel, she brought me hope and above all she brought my life back. I have a normal life like any other person now," a beaming Akhona said.
Her ordeal started when she experienced acute pain in her backbone in 2008.
"I was in and out of hospitals at the same time as my father, who died later in the year. My family, especially my mother, had to endure so much pain.
"But I'm very happy. I'm grateful to all the medical staff who took care of me all these years while trying to treat my sickness," Xaba said.
Shy Yoliswa said what she had done for her sister and her family came naturally.
"I'm no angel, but a human. When I was told my sister could be saved with my blood I agreed.
"My home was not the same without her. She was always sick and she had to drop out of school in 2009 due to her sickness," Yoliswa said.
"When doctors took me to hospital to save Akhona's life, I did not feel pain. It was not painful at all because all that mattered was her life over everything else.
" I told them that I wanted to go back home with my sister so that she could go back to school again."
Yoliswa was accompanied by her eldest sister Bongiwe, 30, to take Akhona home because their mother cannot afford transport. Akhona will have to visit the hospital for checkups for six months. Bongiwe said her family is very poor and do not know how they will be able to take Akhona to Durban every month.
"We are depending on God to pave the way for her full recovery."
The procedure was the first of its type to carried out at the hospital in Durban. Bone marrow transplants have been performed at Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital for the past 20 years.
Dr Jaimendra Singh, the head of clinical haematology and bone marrow transplantation, said they need more black donors on the SA Bone Marrow Registry to cope with demand. "Patients have been dying as they cannot afford to go to Cape Town."
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