4-Year-Old Khloe From Oregon Donates Bone Marrow To Save Her Baby Brother

Sep 25, 2019

It's a cliché that brothers and sisters usually fight a lot. However, 4-year-old Khloe Land is one sister who deeply loves her little brother and would do anything in order to save him.

Khloe is the older brother of Colton. According to Good Morning America, Colton was born on July 24th with a serious condition known as SCID or severe combined immunodeficiency. This type of condition is also called the "Bubble Boy" disease since those who have it must be protected at all times from outside infections.

Kayla Land, the mother of the two young children, told Good Morning America that you wouldn't know that her baby boy has the condition just by looking at him.

"He's just a healthy, normal sweet baby. He's been poked and prodded a lot, but he's a little fighter."

Colton has no way of protecting his body from any outside germs that could cause him to develop an infection. A bone marrow transplant was the only hope for the young child, according to local doctors. Luckily, there were already a few family members who were willing to be tested.

Khloe and her 8-year-old sister Krissy were both checked by the "Be the Match" registry that collects cheek swabs in order to check DNA. They quickly learned that Khloe was a perfect match for her brother and would be able to donate. While Land said that Khloe was very excited at first to hear the news, she was also scared about the surgery. She broke down crying about 30 seconds after hearing that she was a match.

According to the doctor who led the transplant team, Evan Shereck, Khloe's bone marrow indeed ended up being a perfect match. Siblings usually have only a 25% chance of matching when it comes to bone marrow. Shereck stated that Colton is very lucky to have a sibling that matched with his type. Because of this, the transplant has a higher outcome of success.

We are so happy that Colton had an older sister to save him!

Do you know anyone who has donated bone marrow? Leave us a comment below, and then pass this along to others.