Published: Thursday, 25th June, 2009 9:00am

This family needs as much support as possible

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The news that the Elliott family received last week is almost beyond belief.

The Enniskillen family recently discovered that their elder son Marc is in the advanced stages of a life-threatening disease, adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Last week they have found out that their newborn son Matthew could have the same condition.

Any parent reading of their situation on the front page of this newspaper today will be profoundly moved by their plight.

The Elliotts -- Adel and Damien -- have said that the thought of losing both their children is unbearable.

There is some hope. Doctors in Bristol have said they could offer Marc a bone marrow transplant after positive test results. There are risks involved in such a procedure. Initially, when the Elliotts were told by Bristol that they may not be able to offer the transplant, they considered taking Marc to a hospital in Minnesota, USA, which performs bone-marrow transplants in children with advanced ALD at a cost of $850,000.

But the Elliotts believe they don"t think they would have enough time to raise the money as Marc will need the operation within a matter of months and are hoping for treatment in Bristol, which offers the transplant on the NHS.

A major fund-raising campaign is underway to raise money for the Elliotts so they can be by Marc"s side during the four-month transplant procedure as well as offering him the best post-operative care when he returns home.

The couple will have to give up work and live in Bristol monitoring Marc"s recovery process every day for months.

When they return home, Marc will have to receive 24-hour care and to avoid Marc risking infection, they will have to sterilise their house and buy new beds, new clothes and wash him four times a day as well as buy special food for his dietary requirements.

The family will need support for all of this. Through publicity in the past few weeks the support they have already received has been 'phenomenal' with people making donations from as far away as Australia and America.

Adel Elliott says this keeps her family strong and even more determined. This is a young couple which has demonstrated strength of character beyond their years. If any reader finds themselves in a position to help -- by attending a fund-raising event or by putting their hand in their pocket -- this is indeed a worthy cause.

This family has been thrust into the most awful situation and hopefully the humanity and practical support of others will help them in this most trying of times.