A YOUNG boy is to get a life-saving bone marrow transplant - just weeks after his hopes were dashed when he travelled hundreds of miles only to be told the donor was not a match.
Arran Macleod, four, who suffers from chronic granulomatous disorder (CGD), will have his operation next month and it is hoped his older brother Euan, who also has the condition, will follow soon after that.
Earlier this month, the brothers made the journey from their home in Upper Dounreay to Glasgow only to be told the supposed match was not a match at all and the operation could not go ahead.
The boys' mum Janet said they were devastated at the time but have since greatly perked up after learning that a perfect match has now been identified for Arran.
"There's some kind of inquiry going on into what happened but whatever it was, there was an error with tissue typing and the donor we thought we were getting was actually not nearly as good a match as we thought," she said.
"We got there a couple of days before the operation to be taken in and told we actually had to go home again as we no longer had a donor.
"They have found another one, though, with the correct tissue type and he's a 10 out of 10 donor, with the same blood type and everything.
"He's an excellent match and although he'll have to go through medical checks, assuming everything goes well Arran's operation will go ahead on October 8."
Mrs Macleod said the family cannot believe how lucky they are to have found another donor so quickly as he is a young male, a type classed as the best donors because they have the strongest bone marrow.
"As long as the donor gives us his bone marrow, we'll be alright and fingers crossed everything will work out," she said.
Mrs Macleod said the boys were keeping fine but as Arran has now got his central line fitted for chemotherapy, he cannot really go anywhere or do very much and is a bit frustrated.
"We're very lucky the local Macmillan nurses are looking after the line for us because if not, we'd be having to drive down the south of Scotland every week to get it done," she said.
Arran was due to have his transplant at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow on September 12.
His seven-year-old brother was to follow a few weeks later but that has been put back too.
CGD is a life-limiting condition which means the boys are unable to fight infections properly,
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