The Bettuchi’s

Amanda Bettuchi and her husband have 3 children. Their middle child, Shane, was born with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Essentially, this means he was born with practically no immune system. At just one year old, in his young life he’s already undergone chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. He’s still recovering from the transplant and they still aren’t sure if it worked.

Sadly, in the midst of Shane’s treatment, baby Declan was also born with the condition. The family has been trying to stay positive but they admit its hard. Each of their three pregnancies appeared perfectly healthy. Hearing the news of SCID was devastating.

Unfortunately, while Amanda’s husband was a perfect bone marrow match for Shane, he isn’t for Declan. Declan is currently on the donor registry, waiting for a match. You can read more about Declan’s story and donate to the family here.

Flu Season

Declan is still too young to receive treatment. So what can they do in the meantime? Their only real option is isolation. They can’t chance germs getting into their home and Declan getting sick. That means they can’t work and they can’t have any visitors.

This lifestyle is hard for the whole family, especially for McKenzie, who is the eldest child. At 3 years old she can’t fully understand the restrictions.

It’s especially difficult around the holidays, which unfortunately coincides with flu season.

Young children who have compromised immune systems aren’t able to get vaccines. That means its imperative that everyone they interact with is vaccinated. The family lives in constant fear that someone may cough around their children, not know they have the flu, and give it to their child.

They hope to share the message that-

“Illness isn’t an inconvenience; for some, it’s life and death.”

You can read more about this family’s story here.