Bad news for Simon Pretty

I originally blogged about Simon Pretty, the man whose sister refused him a possibly life-saving bone marrow transplant, back in March. This story attracted quite a bit of interest worldwide, with a number of people offering to help Pretty. Things appeared hopeful for a time, as an American bone marrow donor was found, and Pretty seemed to be on the road to recovery.

A commenter on the update thread informed me that Pretty's health had taken a turn for the worse, though, and that sadly seems to be the case. The Liverpool Echo reported over the weekend that Pretty's transplant failed, and he now has only two weeks to live:

Merseyside businessman Simon Pretty has only a fortnight to live after his body rejected bone marrow from an American donor.

Simon, 46, is now at home with his partner Jacqueline and their three children, aged eight, six and three, after doctors said there was nothing more they could do.

[...]

Last month a donor in the US, who only joined a bone marrow register after reading about Simon’s plight, proved to be a match.

The stranger sent Simon a card saying “I’m glad to be your guardian angel”.

Doctors were delighted with how well the transplant went and were confident Simon would beat leukaemia and regain his health in time.

But 10 days ago Simon’s body started rejecting the donated bone marrow and his immune system started attacking it.

His health has been in steady decline since.

Jon Corner, a friend and colleague from Liverpool, said: “Simon is dying. The doctors have said they are just managing his death now.”

I can only hope that in some small way this blog has raised a few people's awareness of the importance of organ donors. But sometimes you just wish that there was more that you could do.

UPDATE (8/27): Simon Pretty's fight is over. My condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.