THE parents of a Newport-youngster Finley Ellis-Hall say he is making progress after his bone marrow transplant last month.

Dad Mark Ellis-Hall said that his son has fully accepted the bone marrow cells donated by Finley’s 18-month-old sister Poppy, without reacting to them.

However Finley is not out of the woods yet – with his liver and kidneys not working properly.

Doctors are now giving Finley drugs to make his liver better, which in turn should improve his kidneys.

The youngster has now spent six-and-a-half weeks in Bristol Children’s Hospital, where he is being cared for by his mother and father.

He recieved the transplant, which doctors said was needed to stop him from developing leukaemia, in April.

Mr Ellis-Hall, who is taking it in turns with Finley’s mother Karen Ellis-Hall to look after him while he is in isolation, said: “We’re estatic that his body has accepted the bone marrow. It’s working and all his counts are coming up.”

“Once his liver and kidney’s sort themselves out we will be on the way to go.”

The four-year-old was at risk of developing leukaemia after treatment for rare cancer neuroblastoma affected chromosomes in his bone marrow.

Poppy, who was already known to be a match, donated her bone marrow in a procedure that took place days before Finley received the cells through his Hickman Line at the hospital.

Ahead of the transplant Finley had to undergo a course of chemo to clear out his old bone marrow, leaving him with no immune system.