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DUK10141718_015
SCHICKSALE - Robert Keon hat seine Tochter an Blutkrebs verloren: Nun spendet er Stammzellen um Leukämiekranken zu helfen
Adelle doing the rickshaw challenge. (PA Real Life/ Collect) *** Devoted dad donates stem cells to a stranger in
honour of the beloved teenage daughter he lost to
blood cancer last summer
By Rikki Loftus, PA Real Life
A father-of-five has honoured the memory of the teenage daughter he lost to blood cancer
last summer by donating his stem cells to save a stranger's life.
Just 15 when she was diagnosed in March 2018, Robert Keown, 44, who is a full -time
carer for his son, Carter, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, was heartbroken when he
discovered his stem cells were not a match for his beloved girl, Adelle.
Fortunately, an anonymous donor was found and just nine months later Adelle - one of six
children including William, 25, trainee teacher Rebecca, 22, her twin brother Aaron, 18,
and Carter, 13 - was given the all clear.
Tragically, her cancer returned in March 2020 and in July, Adelle - a sixth former who had
planned to work with children with cancer - died peacefully in hospital, with her family by
her bedside, aged just 18.
Robert, whose wife Leanne, 40, can't work due to ill health, said: We all miss her so
much and have been trying to keep her legacy alive.
When I got the call that I was a match for someone, I didnt think twice.
Adelle received an anonymous donation in 2018 and it gave us another 18 m onths with
her. I hope my contribution can help another family.
Robert and Leanne's nightmare began in January 2018, when Adelle came down with
tonsillitis.
He said: At first, we didnt think anything of it. Adelle had suffered with tonsillitis on and
off all her life and she normally got better.
Doctors expected it to clear up within a few weeks but, by March, she still wasnt well.
Thats when they took her for tests.
Adelle was referred to Belfast City Hospital, where blood tests led to a devasta ting
diagnosis of acute myeloid leukaemia, a form of blood cancer.
It was actually Adelle who broke the news to me after a doctor had sat her
(c) Dukas