UK's First "Saviour Sibling"

The first "saviour sibling" to be created in the UK, a baby boy, is able to help in treating his sister's life-threatening disease she had suffered from birth. Max Matthews, who is just 17-months-old, gave his elder sister Megan, 9, the ultimate Christmas present after blood taken from his umbilical cord and bone marrow was successfully used in a transplant for her. Megan suffers from Fanconi anaemia and was not expected to live beyond seven years old, and now Max, who was born specifically to provide stem cells to help treat her condition, has given her hope.

The 6,000 pounds procedure that led to Max's birth was paid for by the NHS as a last chance to help Megan.

"It has been a tremendous rollercoaster of highs and lows but Megan is now making fantastic progress, better than we could have hoped for," the Daily Mail quoted the children's mother Katie, 33, as saying.

"For the first time we are looking forward to Christmas without worrying whether Megan will be well or not," she added.

This is the first time that medics have carried out the entire process in the UK, though saviour siblings have been born before with the help of US laboratories.

Source-ANI