A six-year-old girl and her baby brother are closer than ever, say their mother after she bravely saved his life - by becoming his bone marrow donor. Caleb Ashby, from Barwell, Leicestershire, needed an urgent bone marrow transplant after a shortage of infection-fighting blood cells left him in danger of being killed by a common cold. The four-month-old was born with a heart defect and underwent major surgery after his birth but was left needing vital marrow to keep him from infection. Big sister Sophia, six, was a 100 per cent match and bravely demanded her worried parents to let her be a donor by declaring: 'If I give Caleb my bones he will live.' The schoolgirl had her bone marrow extracted from her hip before it was donated to poorly Caleb, just a few beds away.
Parents Kelsey Stynes, 28, and Lee Ashby, 31, had to wait for two weeks to find out Caleb's body had 100 per cent accepted his sister's bone marrow. Four weeks on, the four-month-old is set to make a full recovery, but protective Sophia - who has a stronger bond than ever with her little brother - has refused to leave his side. She's recovered from her op but is attending the hospital school after being given special permission to keep a close eye on him until he goes home in six to eight weeks. Beautician Kelsey, said: 'It makes me so emotional just thinking about it.' I am completely overwhelmed by it all. She just amazes me. She has been fantastic for the whole way through this.' She hasn't stopped smiling and she knows she has done a good thing but I'm not sure if she knows how amazing she is.' If she didn't want to go ahead with it then we wouldn't have Caleb here with us now.
'She saved Caleb's life. She has done an amazing job and without her, we wouldn't have reached where we are now.' Mum-of-four Kelsey, who has two other sons, Zachary, one, and Tyler, eight, found out Caleb was going to be born with a heart defect when she was 22 weeks pregnant. He had truncus arteriosus only one large blood vessel leading from his heart instead of two - and a hole in his heart when he was born in December last year. At just two-weeks-old Caleb underwent a major eight-hour operation, in January, to insert a plastic stent into his heart to do the job of the blood vessel he was born without. Caleb spent five days in intensive care and doctors soon realised the newborn's wound was not healing. Further tests revealed he had 'no white blood at all' meaning he was at serious risk of infection. Doctors warned he could be killed by common cold and his body was too weak to properly recover from the heart surgery. They discovered he had bone marrow failure - when the soft centre of the bones fails to produce enough healthy blood cells to keep up with the body's needs. Kelsey says doctors said if they had known about Caleb's blood condition, they wouldn't have performed the heart surgery. The family were told the only option to save his life was a bone marrow transplant, to give him a new immune system. Kelsey said: 'It was very touching and go at that point. We thought we had been through the worst after his operation.' That was a very scary time for us. We had to trust the surgeons with our baby.' I was so relieved it all went to plan. I just fell to the ground.' Meanwhile, his mum and sister are living at the nearby Ronald McDonald House, which provides a free 'home away from home' accommodation. Sophia has also opted to stay by her brother's side and is attending the hospital school while he fully recovers. She recovered from her 50-minute procedure within 24 hours but was kept away from her brother during her recovery. Kelsey says it was 'hell' having two poorly children and says it was tough for her to put Sophia through her operation in order to save Caleb. She said: 'It was such a hard thing to do, as a mum. I spent all day worrying about them both.' I didn't know what to do with me and ended up just waiting by the recovery bay for Sophia to come out.'The family hope to be reunited at home within two months, and Kelsey says she is dreaming of booking a big family holiday to celebrate Caleb's miraculous journey. Kelsey said: 'They adore each other. Sophia is amazing with him and they are the best of friends.' They are closer than ever now. Sophia knows she has done an amazing thing.'