7-year-old with rare disease shines light on need for bone marrow donors in SA

We speak to 7-year-old Rachel Ancer and her parents, Jean and Jonathan about living with a rare disease.

Rachel has been given a working diagnosis of Pure Red Cell Aplasia, meaning her body doesn't produce red blood cells. Rachel is currently having a blood transfusion approximately every three weeks, but will eventually need a bone marrow transplant. Watch as Rachel's parents talk us through the process of finding a donor, and elaborate on what life is like for their daughter.

On the surface, Rachel is a bouncy 7-year-old who loves to cycle and dreams of taking part in a princess rap battle against Snow White. Her disease is an invisible one her father tells us, as he talks us through her symptoms.

Jonathan says there are only 70,000 bone marrow donors in South Africa, and urges South Africans to register with The Sunflower Fund, so that others going through the same ordeal as Rachel have a chance at treatment.