Jack McIlvar’s odds of surviving aplastic anaemia are good – thanks to his family and treatment

He should’ve died several times but he didn’t. Jack, 22, from Hallett Cove, has become the pin-up boy for surviving his rare blood cancer, thanks to his family.

• Bloody amazing medicine in Adelaide
• Cheek swab to revolutionise fight against cancer
• Get the most out of your Advertiser subscription

Jack McIlvar can’t believe he’s still alive after a severe bone marrow disorder came close to killing him several times in the past 12 months.

But blood donations from his ever-supportive family, and an innovative treatment that almost fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic, means he is on the road to recovery.

“I feel very lucky to be here,” says the 23-year-old, from Hallett Cove. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of my loving girlfriend and family.”

The disorder, called aplastic anaemia, consumed Jack’s bone marrow within a week of diagnosis in September 2019. Without enough white blood cells to fight infection, he was in and out of intensive care for a total of 107 days – 60 of them in a coma.

His father James McIlvar said doctors feared Jack wouldn’t survive. “We were told many times to prepare for the worst – that he was not going to make it, that we should look into end-of-life care for Jack,” James said.

Bottom: Jack’s sister Sam with newborn Scarlett Gower-Wood, his mum Tina, Jack McIlvar, girlfriend Hannah Beer. Top: Brother-in-law Jake Gower-Wood, father James, sister-in-law Dorota and brother Brad. Picture: Emma Brasier

“I can’t count the number of times we all went home to grieve. It was heartbreaking.”

James and Jack’s brother, Brad, donated their white blood cells, reaching the point where they too became unwell from anaemia

The transfusions at the Flinders Medical Centre were an untried treatment that proved vital to getting Jack strong enough for a bone-marrow transplant.

Jack McIlvar receiving a white cell transfusion in December 2019. Picture: Supplied by family

None of Jack’s family were compatible stem cell matches, so a donor from Europe was found and a transplant was booked for March 29 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

However, the pandemic threatened the transportation of the stem cells into Adelaide, prompting desperate pleas for political assistance, right up to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s office. The stem cells arrived on the last European flight to Adelaide before lockdown.

Jack is due to come home for good later this week – more than four months after his transplant.

“We just never gave up,” his dad said. “Access to good quality care when we needed it most was paramount.”

Jack McIlvar on the day of his stem cell transplant – March 2020. Picture: Supplied by family.

Jack McIlvar standing for the first time in January 2020 – four months after diagnosis. Picture: Supplied by family

Today is the start of the tenth Blood Cancer Awareness Month run by the Leukaemia Foundation, which wants to highlight barriers to accessing quality treatment.

Leukaemia Foundation acting CEO Alex Struthers said by improving access to best-practice treatment and care, Australia could potentially save up to 22,000 lives by 2035.

The number of Australians diagnosed with blood cancer has jumped 38 per cent in the past decade. More than 17,300 people are expected to be diagnosed this year, and more than 5600 will lose their lives – up 27 per cent since 2010.

For more information, visit leukaemia.org.au

Also see “Jack’s Fight” at his Go Fund Me Page