You may remember, back in February, I told you about Aillidh the daughter of a fellow member of Mumsnet who had leukaemia and was looking for a bone marrow donor.
The good news is that she found one. The bad news is that, before the graft could take, she caught a lung infection. She died last night around 1130 BST, surrounded by her family and some close friends.
The past few days have been so very hard for all of us following Aillidh’s story (BTW, it’s pronounced Ay-ley, like Hayley, with no H), which is most of Mumsnet. She was doing okay, then she wasn’t, then she rallied. And then, sadly, she died.
It’s been days and days of prayer threads on Mumsnet and Facebook. It’s been months and months of ‘please register to donate’ threads on Mumsnet and Facebook.
And that’s what this little girl did. She not only brought out the best in the ‘nest of vipers’, she got hundreds, if not thousands, of donors signed up, not just to donate bone marrow, but blood and stem cells and who knows what else.
I, unfortunately, cannot donate to any of these things. I am too old for bone morrow and my diabetes prevents me from donating blood.
But I’ve done my part. I’ve Tweeted and blogged and Facebooked. I’ve prayed and hoped and sent emotional support.
We, mostly women, of Mumsnet have been drawn together even more than ever because of this poor little girl.
Requiescat in pace little girl. And know, as you leave this world, you left it a much much better place.