Oman father seeks help to save daughter’s life from blood disorder

Muscat: A long-time Oman resident is seeking help to save his daughter, who has to undergo bone marrow transplant later this week.

Adrian Pereira, who has been working in the travel industry in Oman for over two decades, found out last year that his elder daughter Alessa Pereira, 11, was suffering from aplastic anaemia, which is a blood disorder in which the body’s bone marrow doesn’t make enough new blood cells.

He was told by the doctors in Muscat that his daughter will need allogeneic stem cell transplantation, which involves transferring the stem cells from a healthy person (the donor) after high-intensity chemotherapy or radiation.

“We looked for a bone marrow donor all over the world and finally our search ended when we found a donor with the National Marrow Donor Programme in the US,” Pereira said in his appeal letter.

“The donor is ready to provide bone marrow that can save my daughter’s life,” he said, adding that he has taken his daughter to Christian Medical College, Vellore, in India for initial treatment and to get ready for the stem cell transplantation.

The only hope for Alessa, a seventh grade Indian School Muscat pupil, is the stem cell transplantation. “Before that she has to undergo a series of chemotherapy and radiations,” he pointed out.

However, Pereira added that the whole procedure is expensive and the cost has multiplied with the donor found in the US.

“The total estimated cost is 33,000 Omani riyals (about Dh313,500),” the distraught father of two said.

Pereira’s colleagues at Bahwan Travels raised 10,000 riyals and he has added all his life savings but is still short of funds. “I have managed to raise about 20,000 but that is not enough and need at least another 10,000 riyals now to go ahead with stem cell transplantation for my daughter,” he pleaded.

Those wishing to help save young Alessa’s life can send money to Pereira’s account- (No: 0331011125720015) with the Bank Muscat CBD Branch.