Jodi suffered so much at the end... I’m glad she met her baby brother

1:00pm Friday 12th March 2010

By Emily Parsons

TRIBUTES have been paid to a schoolgirl who lost her battle with a rare bone marrow disorder, aged 12.

Jodi O’Rahilly, from Greenstead, Colchester, died after an 18-month fight against severe aplastic anaemia.

In the days before she died, her mum Laura Morgan gave birth to baby William, four weeks prematurely.

He had been due on the day Jodi died, but his early arrival meant his eldest sister got a chance to meet him.

Laura smiled and said: “She was too sore to hold him, but I laid him on the bed beside her and she held his hand and said he was cute.

“At the end, she was suffering a lot. They kept her just unconscious, but she could hear us because she used to squeeze our hands and wiggle her toes.

“The night before she died, her brother David and I went to say goodnight and he read it a bit to her.”

Jodi attended Willow Brook Primary School, Colchester before moving to St Helena School, also in the town.

However, less than three months after starting secondary school, the youngster was struck down with the rare disorder, aplastic anaemia.

It is a condition where the bone marrow does not produce enough blood cells for the circulation. Most of the time the cause is unknown Laura took Jodi for blood tests after she had difficulty getting up in the morning and was often complaining she did not feel very well with a tummy ache or headache.

The results were back within an hour and Jodi was rushed to Colchester General Hospital, before being transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge. She stayed there for a week undergoing tests before the illness was confirmed.

As Jodi’s immune system stopped working, she became susceptible to infection and was home-schooled for an hour, four days a week.

Five weeks before she died, Jodi was taken back to Addenbrooke’s with an infection.

Her condition deteriorated as the infection spread across her body, and she struggled to breathe.

Finally, after a determined fight, Jodi died on Thursday last week, with her family around her.

Her stepdad, Dominic, said: “I brought her up from the year dot. I’ve been her dad since she was two.

The youngster leaves behind Laura and Dominic, 12-year-old stepbrother, James, ten-year-old sister Lauren, and brothers David, six, and William, four weeks.

A YEAR of fundraising is planned to say a special thank you to the charity which cared for Jodi’s family through the toughest days.

While the 12-year-old was kept in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, her family were put up in Acorn House.

With room for as many as 15 families, the house is run by the Sick Children’s Trust, allowing relatives of seriously ill children to stay close to the hospital free of charge.

Jodi’s parents, Dominic and Laura, had a phone line which linked directly to the intensive care unit, and the room and facilities to keep all the family together.

They decided to fundraise for the charity while Jodi was still alive, and will continue with their efforts in her memory.

Dominic, who works as a head chef but is also an award-winning amateur film-maker, has vowed to host a series of spectacular events.

He said: “We are in the process of setting up a website called jodisworld.tv, which will co-ordinate the fundraising efforts.

“When Jodi was alive, she collected a signed Colchester United shirt and a football signed by Ipswich Town footballers.

However, Mr Morgan’s most ambitious plans centre on a mini-Oscar night and a fun day.

He said: “The fun day will not be for little children; it will be aimed at the pre-teens, people Jodi’s age.

“It will be special, with gladiator games, or a live band, and maybe a cook-off competition or something. I’m hoping someone will offer me a bit of green land to host it, and hopefully other people will come on board.”

Mr Morgan also hopes to get all the schools in the borough involved with a film festival.

Schools will be invited to make a two to three-minute film on a theme ahead of the mini Oscar-style event.

Tickets would be sold, with proceeds going towards the Sick Children’s Trust, and there would be different prizes up for grabs.

Youngsters at Willow Brook Primary School are planning a charity car wash in June and pupils at St Helena School are planning their own fundraising event.

Anyone with any ideas, items to auction or offers of help is asked to e-mail Mr Morgan at spatialawareness @hotmail.com