Gareth back with 'very good’ hopes

Press, 27 October 1982, Page 1

Gareth back with 'very good’ hopes

Gareth Cotton, of Mataura, returned to New Zealand with his family yesterday after his successful bone marrow transplant in Sydney.

The transplant has given Gareth, aged five, a 40 per cent chance of survival. His mother, Mrs Florence Cotton, described the surgery as ‘life-saving.” “His prospects are very good. He has a 40 per cent chance, which he did not have before, and after two years, a 100 per cent chance.” said his father, Mr David Cotton.

Gareth showed little signs of his illness yesterday, apart from a face mask worn as a precaution against infection, as he wrestled on the airport lounge floor with his brothers, Damian, aged four, and Adam, aged two. “He is very well," said Mrs Cotton. “He gets very tired and cannot walk too far, but he has been in hospital for a long time and is not used to doing much.”

A large pink panther given to Gareth by his aunt when the family left New Zealand two months ago helped him : pass the time in hospital.

Damian, who was the donor for his brother’s bone marrow transplant, had had no “adverse effects,” said Mrs Cotton. “They are both very well and just looking forward to getting home.” Gareth’s transplant at the Prince of Wales Children's Hospital in Sydney was made possible by a $20,000 grant from the Social Welfare Department and $30,000 raised by the Mataura Lions Club. The money went towards keeping Gareth, his parents, brothers, and sister, Rebekah, aged seven, in Sydney. The surgery could not be done in time in New Zealand. Asked if he would rather have had the surgery done in Christchurch, Mr Cotton said, “Before I went I would have said ‘yes,’ but the people in Sydney were very helpful and could not have been better.”

The family will spend the next few days staying with Mr Cotton’s parents in Christchurch while Gareth attends Christchurch Hospital as an outpatient of the bone marrow unit. After he returns to Mataura he will make periodic visits to the Invercargill and Christchurch hospitals.