A little boy, who recently donated bone marrow to his older brother battling cancer, is winning hearts on the internet. A video showing the conversation between the two brothers, sitting on a hospital bed, went viral – it’s heartwarming and wholesome say netizens.
On February 10, Rachael Pipkins, the mother of the two boys, posted the video on Instagram. Rachael, who is an artist based in the US and usually shares her artworks on her page @rae_art, overheard the conversation between her two sons just four days before the bone marrow transplant and decided to film it.
The video shows the older brother, Preston, telling his younger brother, Cameron, that he is a superhero for donating his bone marrow.
"You saved me. What does that make you? You're a real-life superhero," Preston is heard saying as both the brothers sit on the hospital bed assigned to him.
He adds that he is grateful to his brother for the life-saving transplant.
"Just because I got a shot, it doesn't mean I can't save you," replies the younger brother.
Preston explains to him: "Yea, it does. You are giving bone marrow from your body to my body because my bone marrow is messed up; it has cancer. Right? Yours doesn't. And, you don't need to give all the bone marrow. You just need to give a little bit."
According to a gofundme.com page that was created for Preston last year, he had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in September 2022. He was admitted to Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.
In a previous Instagram post on February 1, Rachael Pipkins explained: “This is my son, Preston. He is 13 years old and is battling AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia). He was diagnosed on September 27, 2022 and has been admitted to the hospital ever since. He was able to come home once for a short eight-day break during this entire time. He is scheduled for a life-saving bone marrow transplant on Valentine’s Day. His little brother is his one and only donor match. The national registry did not have a successful donor available. We have faced many challenges since his diagnosis. The newest one is an unexpected move for his health and safety.”
Stem cells are special cells produced by bone marrow (spongy tissue found in the centre of some bones) that can turn into different types of blood cells.
The three main types of blood cells they can become are red blood cells – which carry oxygen around the body; white blood cells – which help fight infection; and platelets – which help stop bleeding.
In the video that went viral, the mum wrote in the caption: “These brothers are bonded for life on a whole different level. Almost transplant time! This will be the sweetest Valentine’s Day on record. My little heroes. I’m not crying, you’re crying.”
The video was reposted by many other Instagram pages and had thousands of comments with people saying that it moved them to tears.
Instagrammer @skumarrox wrote: “This brought me to tears. You have some incredible children.”
“Oh, my heart… I’m certainly crying! Such a sweet interaction full of love,” added @stephwilliamson22.
“Oh, sweet boys! And the way Preston just explains everything so calmly. You can feel the love radiate,” commented @redhippoproject.
And, @sarahlynear wrote: “I have two little boys so this hits hard!”
Most recent updates from @rae_art show that Preston is recovering well.
“My sunshine! Day seven, post bone marrow transplant, busting out the 360 behind the back dunk during his Occupational Therapy session. Walking laps and throwing passes with hand weights on. I’m so proud of this kid. His determination through this journey is incredible, to say the least,” she captioned a post on February 22.
