Nia Mercedes Schell is 10 today

Happy Birthday, Nia! It's time to party! I doubt that Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals have ever seen a celebration like this. Balloons, streamers, international guests, and perhaps also a few presents...

2010 Easter Hunt at Woburn Abbey

Finn hunted ducks...

Nia hunted clues...

and Dragonflies hunted Corinna!

How Special is Nia?

Q: How rare are babies like Nia? i.e., born with the CHD "ALCAPA" who are diagnosed with Ph+ ALL?

ALL birth rate = 0.04%, or 4 out of 10,000 babies
Ph+ frequency = 6% of pediatric cases of ALL
Ph+ birth rate = 0.0024%, or 24 out of 1,000,000 babies

CHD birth rate = 0.69%, or one in every 145 babies
ALCAPA frequency = 0.375% of all pediatric cases of CHD
ALCAPA birth rate = 0.0026%, or 26 out of 1,000,000 babies

ALL Ph+ and CHD ALCAPA birth rate = 0.00000006%, or 6 out of 10,000,000,000 babies

A: Quite rare! But if I further calculated the frequency of BMT to treat ALL Ph+, or of Takeuchi-tunnel to repair ALCAPA, I would just be showing off. We already know that Nia is unique.

Glossary
ALCAPA: Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery
ALL: Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
BMT: Bone Marrow Transplant
CHD: Congenital Heart Disease
Ph+: Philadelphia Chromosome Positive