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Brother saves sibling's life with bone marrow miracle

A seven-year-old Bendigo boy has given a whole new meaning to the term brotherly love - by donating bone marrow to save his sibling's life.

Nine-year-old Cooper Hale was diagnosed with a rare and potentially deadly blood disorder, medically dubbed aplastic anaemia, earlier this year.

The young boy endured months of severe car sickness and headaches - common symptoms of the disease, which affects the bone marrow's ability to produce red blood cells.

Cooper's best hope of a cure lay with a donor transplant.

Cooper (right) and his brothers five-year-old Brodie (left), Lachlan (middle). Photo: Supplied
Cooper (right) and his brothers five-year-old Brodie (left), Lachlan (middle). Photo: Supplied

In most cases, donors must have the same genetic typing as the patient for a bone marrow transplant to be successful.

Typically, a patient's full brothers and sisters have the highest chance of being a match.

In Cooper's case, his youngest brother Lachlan proved a suitable match.

"To have to put to put one of the boys up potentially was very frightening," the boys' mum Kirsten told 7News reporter Anastasia Salamastrakis

But Lachlan agreed to make the major sacrifice to save his brother.

Asked why he was happy to help, Lachlan replied: "Because he's my brother."

Their mother filmed the transplant to remind her boys of their extraordinary bond.

Doctors say Cooper was lucky, as less than 30 per cent of patients will have a sibling match.

Royal Children's Hospital's Dr Francoise Mechinaud said: "He was very brave and active during his treatment. I hope it won't be a bad memory for him."

The transplant was a success and both boys recovered well.

Cooper and his brother Lachlan made a full recovery. Photo: Supplied
Cooper and his brother Lachlan made a full recovery. Photo: Supplied

Cooper spent around three weeks in an isolation ward at the Royal Children's Hospital.

In that time, he limited visitors and used an iPad to make video calls to keep in contact with family and friends.

He is back at home now and grateful for his brother's priceless gift.

"I'm so thankful because he's helped me," Cooper said.