Mum’s desperate plea after toddler’s life was saved with something most parents ‘throw in the bin’

A TODDLER has been saved thanks to something many women “throw in the bin”.

Sarah Cripps, 37, is urging pregnant women to donate their placentas after giving birth, as the organ helped save her son’s life. 

The placenta is often discarded – but it can help to treat people with blood cancer because it contains cord blood which is full of stem cellsGetty Images – Getty

Teddy (pictured) was diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer when he was 18 months old

“You will never understand the feeling of being told that there’s a way to save your child’s life [which comes from] a completely selfless human who woke up one day and decided to give this gift,” she said.

In April 2022, Sarah noticed her then 18-month-old Teddy was experiencing night sweats, which she initially put down to a virus.

However, the 37-year-old mum then noticed two lumps emerge on the back of her son’s head and his neck. His glands also appeared to be swollen.

“When I saw the lumps, they freaked me out,” she told Manchester Evening News.

The mum-of-two had previously lost her cousin to leukaemia, so she was aware of the signs and decided to take her son to the GP to get checked.

At first, doctors said not worried as Teddy appeared well. They told Sarah it was best to wait six weeks and see if there were any improvements.

However, Sarah sought a second opinion within 24 hours, and unfortunately, her worst nightmares were confirmed.

Tests revealed Teddy had acute myeloid leukaemia – an aggressive form of blood cancer. He was given a 13 per cent chance of survival.

He needed a bone marrow transplant to survive, which required a donor.

Sadly, his twin brother, George, was not a match, and his parents were unable to donate, so they were forced to rely on a donor from the stem cell registry.

With Teddy being a White European, doctors said there was a high chance of finding another match.

After an agonising six-week wait on the donor list, Teddy was found a match which came from the mother of an 11-year-old child in Spain.

“If I was standing there with my baby in front of a pregnant mother and said, ‘my child is going to die without a stem cell transplant, and his best chance of survival is from your cord that you’re going to throw in the bin – can I have it?’.

Teddy is now almost three; it is a year since his transplant with 97 per cent probability of cure, and he started nursery in September.

Campaign to get more people donating

The placenta – which provides nutrition to the baby during pregnancy – is often discarded.

But it can help to treat people with blood cancer because it contains cord blood which is full of stem cells.

Unlike adult stem cell donors, cord blood does not need to be an exact match for the patient as it can develop to suit the recipient, meaning it can save far more lives.

However, not all people needing a transplant are as fortunate as Teddy.

There are about 2,000 people in the UK waiting for a stem cell transplant, but only three per cent of the population are registered as donors.

Since her son’s treatment, Sarah has launched the Swab to Save a Child campaign to get more people to donate stem cells.

The mum said she hoped the campaign would inspire conversations about stem cell donation.

“It’s a mission of mine to not only get people on the drive but also to get more people talking over their dinner tables or in pubs about it,” she told The Guardian earlier this year.

She added: “I hope one day, doctors say when it comes to blood cancers or bone marrow failures, ‘you need a bone marrow transplant but don’t worry.

“In the UK, we’ve got one of the best registers, and there’s a 90 per cent chance we’ll find you a match’, regardless of your ethnicity or background.”