To save a little sister, costly transplant necessary

Amanda Williams, 6, pushed an IV pole around her hospital bed to peek through the window of her sealed, pressurized room at Medical University of South Carolina's Children's Hospital. Dressed in Cinderella pajamas, she ate My Little Pony candy and watched therapy dogs walk down the hall. Her risk of infection was too high for her to pet them.

Amanda was born with sickle cell anemia. At age 4, she suffered a stroke, collapsing at her mother's feet. Now, with the help of her 15-year-old sister, Amber, who does not have the blood disorder, the little girl may become symptom free.

Healthy red blood cells are round and soft. But the cells of people who have sickle cell can become hard and pointed, clumping together and blocking blood flow.

Doctors at MUSC's Children's Hospital replaced Amanda's bone marrow, which is the body's blood cell factory located in the bones' core, with her sister's healthy bone marrow.

"It was scary," Amber said, rubbing her lower back, where rich, red fluid was harvested. "It feels good to know that you can help her."

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.