The Blurb

Mum, Dad, and I pulled into the car park at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children at around lunchtime. The three of us prepared to plod the familiar walk to St John’s Ward.

I paused just before entering the hospital, and let my parents move a few steps ahead. I looked out over the car park, and breathed in deeply. I knew this would be my last breath of fresh air for a long time. 

‘Ben?’ my mum called, from beyond the hospital doors.

I turned. ‘I’m coming,’ I said.

Ben is a normal bright ambitious student. The only difference between his life and yours is that he has a rare genetic blood disease – Fanconi anaemia – which gives sufferers a life expectancy of 22 years. At the age of 16 Ben became the first person in Ireland to have a revolutionary type of bone marrow transplant. But getting through it wasn’t easy: he suffered a psychotic episode which made him unable to recognise his doctors, his parents… And, before the transplant even began, he had to tell the girl he loved that he only had a 50 per cent chance of survival.

Two in a Million describes what it’s like to live with a life-threatening illness, to undergo a life-saving procedure, to recover slowly and try to live normally as a student in Dublin. Told with humour and honesty, this is a remarkable story.

Two in a Million is published by A. & A. Farmar and is in bookshops across Ireland now, priced €11.99. You can also get it at [1] www.aafarmar.ie, [2] www.amazon.co.uk and right here.

[3] BY THE BOOK HERE!

To learn more about Fanconi anaemia visit [4] www.fanconi.org or [5] www.fanconi.org.uk