Cody's story

One year old Cody from Wirral has already faced many challenges in her short life.

At ten months old her parents noticed that her normally happy personality was changing, she became withdrawn, refused to eat and stopped gaining weight.

Following tests at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Alder Hey, Cody was diagnosed with Hurlers Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting 1 in 100,000 children in the UK. Without treatment children with Hurlers Sydrome do not live past their teens.

Her parents were told that the only long term treatment would be a bone marrow transplant and Cody instantly began Enzyme Replacement Therapy. A donor match was found in New York and Stem Cells for Cody's treatment were flown over from the USA.

The transplant was a success and within six weeks Cody returned home. She will always remain under the care of Pendlebury and her treatment will transfer to the new children's hospital in 2009.

Due to her condition Cody will always have a short stature, however she now enjoys a normal life and is a happy little girl who will be able to attend mainstream school.

For Cody and her family access to the latest equipment and pioneering treatments made all of the difference. Living some 50 miles away from the hospital meant that to be able to remain with Cody at night was a huge comfort to her parents.

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"Within two weeks of diagnosis Cody was receiving life saving treatment, this is due to the team at the Willink, the hospital's specialist centre for genetics. Their work is giving hope to many families. Cody's Bone Marrow Transplant was administered by a dedicated team of professionals, with consultants constantly monitoring her progress. One consultant would even call us from home in his own time to check how she was doing. We can't thank them all enough for the exceptional care given and most importantly for giving Cody the chance of life."

Cody's Dad Dan