Good Friday Appeal: Brotherly love keeping Harry and Archie strong
Little Harry and Archie share a rare condition which means they face a lifetime of infusion treatments ahead — but with their unbreakable brotherly bond, the pair is living their best lives.
Their brotherly bond is unbreakable.
And Harry, 4, and Archie, 18 months, will no doubt need that sibling strength for a lifetime of infusion treatments ahead of them.
Harry and Archie have atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) which is characterised by the formation of clots in small blood vessels, leading to kidney damage and other organ dysfunction.
The boys receive treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and do infusion-based therapies to stabilise their blood, every eight weeks, in regional Victoria.
Their clinician, Dr Tom Forbes, said: “Harry and Archie will need to do the infusions for the rest of their lives. Patients with this condition can progress towards severe kidney disease and failure.”
Lisa said the boy’s health woes came out of nowhere.
She said Harry was 5-months-old when he appeared really sick, lethargic and pale.
She took him to a hospital near their home in the state’s northeast, where doctors decided Harry should be flown to the RCH for urgent care.
He spent six weeks in the RCH for treatment. “They thought it was a blood condition, but that was soon crossed that off the list and moved us to nephrology (pediatric medicine related to kidneys).
Archie’s health issues became apparent at five weeks old.
“He was very lethargic. I knew something was wrong because he was never an easy baby to get to sleep. The next morning, he was visibly yellow.”
She rushed him to a local hospital. “Archie was lifeless,” Lisa said. “They put him on oxygen and got some blood into him.”
He was also flown to the RCH for immediate care.
Lisa says she and her partner Jake were told Harry’s condition was “not genetic ... or genetically linked.”
She added: “Obviously, they don’t guarantee anything, but we felt it was a safe bet to have another baby”.
After Harry and Archie were diagnosed with aHUS, the brothers needed infusions every two weeks, and later, every four weeks.
Their sister, Isabella, 6, does not have aHUS.
Lisa, is thankful for the lifesaving treatments, and especially grateful they now take place at a clinic close to their home in the state’s northeast.
“We’re on a lifelong journey of managing their health,” Lisa said. “You look at the boys and think that they’re healthy — and they are, because the treatment keeps them that way.”
She added: “Harry and Archie run around, play, and act crazy like any other kids. They live their best lives. At kinder, or drop-off, if I mention we’re going to treatment, people ask, ‘what do you mean?’ They don’t stand out, and they’re not visibly different to their peers.
“You still have moments where you feel like, ‘poor us,’ or, ‘why us,’” Lisa said. “But we are so lucky to have the medicines and treatments that keep the boys healthy and strong.”
The Good Friday Appeal will celebrate its 94th year in 2025. The appeal will be hosted on April 18.
To donate, visit goodfridayappeal.com.au
Originally published as Good Friday Appeal: Brotherly love keeping Harry and Archie strong
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