Help support Oli Wunhym and family.

Oliver Wunhym and his family need our help.

Oli is a kind and optimistic 14 year old - cricketer, Xbox gamer and medical mystery.

Oli first became unwell at age nine (five years ago) with CVID (Common Variable Immune Deficiency), however he has progressively become more unwell with each flare up and hospital admission.   Oli's presentation of this blood disorder is baffling and he unfortunately does not respond as one would expect to conventional treatment pathways. 
In a nutshell, Oli's immune system chews up his platelets which results in huge risk of uncontrollable and life threatening bleeding. Unfortunately Oli has experienced quite a few nasty and scary nose bleeds that have taken hours and hours to control.

So, what is the current issue?
Oli, a year 9 student at Box Hill High in 2020, is currently in  hospital - having had a flare up in early December 2019, culminating in his most recent admission to Monash Children's Hospital on Christmas Eve (of all days and only five days after his 14th birthday).
Oli has remained in hospital since then and has had a significant stay in the paediatric ICU where he underwent several rounds of plasma exchange in an attempt to control the CVID  which has now progressed to present as not only low platelets, but also anaemia and neutropaenia - this is now a critical and life threatening illness.
Oli and his family have been advised that the next step (and basically only remaining option) is for Oli to undergo an urgent bone marrow transplant. 

Luckily, Oli's older brother Harrison is a match. This kind of makes him like a twin - alongside Oli's actual fraternal twin Emily. Harrison is very happy to be able to help his younger brother by donating bone marrow.

Oli will be transferred to the Royal Children's Hospital soon so that the bone marrow transplant process can commence.  I won't go into the details of this process, however let it be said that this process is not without huge risk and in its entirety will take months to complete. 

Oli is in good spirits currently, however he would much prefer to be playing cricket with his team mates at East Box Hill Cricket Club - hopefully he'll be back for the 2020/2021 season!

How can we help?
Oli's Mum, Helen, has taken extended time off work to be with him in hospital and ensure he gets all the Mum cuddles he needs to get through this ordeal.   Unfortunately, Helen's leave allocations are now exhausted and so the family's income has been dealt a significant blow. Helen will not be able to return to work in the foreseeable future whilst Oli undergoes his bone marrow transplant. 
Oli's Dad Paul has also taken time out from work to support the family during this hospital stay - as he is self employed this too affects the family finances. 

Whilst we can't do much to change Oli's condition - we can help to financially support the family through this tough time. 

Please consider donating (whatever you can - every little bit helps!), or if you are unable to donate you can still help by sharing this fundraising campaign far and wide via your social media.