Baby Battler

Mareko Ratu was diagnosed with cancer at just five days old – as a newborn he underwent five sessions of chemotherapy and a number of different blood transfusions. While he doesn’t remember any of it now as a happy and healthy 10-year-old, it will impact him for the rest of his life.

As a newborn, Mareko was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, the most common type of cancer for babies. He’d only been alive for ten days when he started his first session of chemotherapy. While Mareko may not remember the treatment, it is a vivid and endlessly traumatic memory for his mum, Tania.

“He was so tiny and already going through so much. It was terrifying but we’re just so glad he stuck it out – he’s a tough little thing,” says Tania.

The chemotherapy treatment targeted a tumour that was invading Mareko’s liver, and although he had spent less than two weeks in the world, doctors compared his liver function to that of a 70-year-old alcoholic. In fact, the damage was so severe that it had caused a form of jaundice and was turning Mareko’s skin a fluorescent yellow – the only way to treat it was by blood transfusion.

“If the blood wasn’t there, it would have been the difference between life and death for him,” says Tania.

“There is no synthetic substitute for blood and we’re very grateful for everyone who donates – you’re helping families just like mine.”

Mareko is a battler; his body fought so hard against the cancer that doctors were able to drop his chemotherapy sessions from eight to five. At three months old, he was officially ‘in remission’, and his mother Tania was overcome with emotion.

 “I can’t describe the relief in knowing the worst was over. I was so grateful to the wonderful medical staff, and I wish I knew who the blood donors were. I am forever in their debt. I tell my friends and family all the time, donate when you can if you can – a donation is the gift of life for someone in need.”

But while Mareko’s family were overjoyed at the news of his remission, he was very fragile and at only three months old, his fight was far from over.

Cancer patients receive chemotherapy through a medical device called a port, or catheter which avoids the use of needles for any intravenous medication. In Mareko’s case, the port site was constantly getting infected, meaning he needed further treatment with antibiotics and a number of additional blood transfusions.

After only six months of life, baby Mareko had endured a total of five chemotherapy sessions and a staggering 35 blood transfusions before finally being discharged from hospital.

The cancer will affect him for the rest of his life. He’ll never be able to drink alcohol, and he has permanent partial hearing loss as a result of his treatment. But Mareko marches on, now a happy and healthy 10-year-old boy. While he still requires ongoing oncologist appointments, ultrasounds and heart checks on a yearly basis, he’s adopted all things ‘survival’ as a hobby – and a minor obsession with the well-known adventurer and wilderness survivor, Bear Grylls.

“We have a gully at the back of the house, so he loves making little huts back there and even has his own stove where he cooks his own eggs! He loves all things survival,” says Tania. “He’s been a fighter since day one.”

Mareko’s battle with cancer as a newborn means he’s had to face some difficult setbacks, the likes of which many children his age could never fathom, let alone most adults. Despite this, his survival instinct is as fierce as ever – he’s unequivocally a Bear Grylls in the making.

To find out more about how you can become a blood donor, click here or call 0800 GIVE BLOOD.