A north-east family faces the prospect of Christmas apart after a 12-year-old skateboard enthusiast was admitted to hospital with a rare blood disease.
Cory Prosser, from Elgin, showed no signs of any illness until he fell of his bike less than two weeks ago.
Within hours of the fall his mother Paula rushed him to A&E after his knee turned black, prompting concerns he may have broken a bone.
However, she was shocked to discover his chest covered in previously hidden bruises and marks when they arrived at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
Tests later diagnosed Cory with aplastic anaemia, which is also known as bone marrow failure, with doctors warning it could have proved fatal if left unchecked.
The Elgin High School pupil was transferred to hospital in Aberdeen within days and now faces an anxious wait for a transplant.
Complications of the rare blood disease and Covid-19 mean the family now faces Christmas apart with Cory’s mum staying at his bedside in the Granite City while his father John stays with his brother Mikey, 4, and sister Lacie-Mae, 5, in Elgin.
Mrs Prosser said: “We’re just so relieved he fell off his bike when he did. If we hadn’t known about it then there could have been huge consequences.
“Just the slightest knock at the moment can cause him to bruise very badly, if it had got much worse it could have caused internal bleeding, which doesn’t bear thinking about.
“It’s just so scary because he’s always been fit and well, there was no clue about anything like this.
She added: “Cory’s gutted about Christmas, but he’s more sorry the whole family isn’t going to be together.
“That’s just the sort of boy he is, he thinks of everybody else first, he’s such a lovely young boy.”
Gaming fan Cory is currently receiving daily transfusions of platelets, which helps blood clot by sticking it together, while in hospital.
The rare blood disease, which can develop mysteriously, is only diagnosed in about 40 children every year in the UK.
Ordinarily people have blood platelets level of between 150 and 400. However, the condition caused Cory’s supplies to plummet to just one.
Meanwhile, friends of the Prosser family have raised £1,300 to support Cory and his mother with the extra expenses of the hospital stay in Aberdeen as well as to brighten his spirits during the festive season.
Over the weekend the keen swimmer decorated a Christmas tree someone had donated to bring some added sparkle to his room on the ward.
Mrs Prosser said: “There’s no timeline for how he’s going to get better at the moment, we don’t even know how he got it. We have to wait for a donor, which is the most important thing at the moment. I don’t even know what happens after that.
“The support from everyone has just been amazing. We didn’t ask for money at the start, we just share Cory’s story so other families would know about the illness, but people wanted to help.
“It’s put a big strain on our finances with the normal home bills, staying in Aberdeen and Christmas. It’s meant so much to us.”
Donations to support the Prosser family can be made online at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Help-Cory
