Community rallies around two sisters: 5 year old donates bone marrow to her 7 year old sister

Have you heard the rally cry Sydney Strong ~ Hayden Brave?

Sydney and Hayden are two young sisters battling Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA) in different ways.  Sydney, age 7, was diagnosed during her first month of life with DBA, a rare blood disorder characterized by a failure of the bone marrow to generate red blood cells. Her sister Hayden, age 5,  has the secret weapon to help Sydney fight the disease, matching bone marrow.

“I am so lucky that my sister is so amazing,” Sydney wrote on her Go Fund Me Page.

Sydney and Hayden’s friends have been supporting the two girls any way they can. Their friends have sent them videos and photos with the rally cry Sydney Strong ~ Hayden Brave and organized lemonade stands to raise money to offset medical expenses for the family.

Sydney will be in isolation for eight months after she is released from the hospital.

“I love my family and friends and would love to see them all the time,” Sydney wrote. In order to have visitors during isolation she will need an outside bathroom. “My parents had to pay $10s of thousands out of pocket in deductibles and not covered costs. We could really use assistance. Would you help us build one,” she wrote.

If you are wondering how you can make a donation visit http://www.gofundme.com/sve6gb4. Any monies raised above what the family needs will be donated to the Sydney Darragh Foundation which will fund research to help cure Diamond Blackfan Anemia.

If you would like to know how Sydney and Hayden are doing their dad Eddie is writing about their journey.  You can follow on facebook here or through the his blog here.

Above – Roisin and Eamonn Ward organized one of the several lemonades with their friends Savannah and Cadence Carr, Gretchen Merrill, Aila Francis, Kate and Meg McCobb, Emerson and Carter Boissoneault and HAYDEN! The group raised over $400 and had a special visit from the Upton Police Department.

Below L – One of the several lemonade stands set up around Upton raising funds for the family.    R- Upton PD visiting Roisin and Eamonn Ward’s lemonade stand.