Coolamon's two-year-old Henley Carey thriving after bone marrow transplant

Two-year-old Henley Carey was born with mucopolysaccharidosis, or MPS, which affects his major organs, bones, and connective tissue.

The region rallied around the family after Henley underwent 10 days of chemotherapy ahead of a lifesaving bone marrow transplant donated from his three-year-old brother Darcy.

The family finally returned to their Coolamon home in September last year, and since then, little Henley has blossomed.

"He has been going really well," mum Alicia Carey said.

"He has been able to go back to family daycare, and he has lots of therapies including speech, occupational, physio, hydro, and swimming lessons.

"He used to have a lot of doctor appointments, but now they have decreased."

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Mrs Carey said Henley has also started to walk and talk a little, and while he might speak in complete sentences, his personality still shines through.

"This time last year he wasn't like this, but now his sense of humour is beyond his years," she said.

"Henley loves playing with other kids. He is into everything like a typical two-year-old. He never stops, which is good."

His older brother Darcy, who donated bone marrow, is also flourishing, Mrs Carey said, and the pair love playing together.

She said while the checkups are less frequent, and they do not need to travel to Sydney, the next "big thing" is coming up in March.

"We will have an MRI scan at Westmead, and it will be to determine if he has to have bilateral hip reconstruction," Mrs Carey said.

"They will look at that and weigh up how mobile he is.

"He will probably need to have it toward the end of next year or at the beginning of 2023."

Mrs Carey said the family would always be incredibly grateful for the help they received from the community as it eased their financial burden and allowed them to focus on helping Henley.

"We are so thankful to have the community supporting us and Henley."

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