AFTER donating bone marrow to help his younger brother, seven-year-old Rufus Taylor got his own special reward.

The West Oxfordshire youngster was given a gold badge from Blue Peter, the popular children’s show’s highest honour for children who do exceptional deeds.

In May, Rufus, from North Leigh, had marrow extracted from his spine with a needle to help five-year-old Herbie, who has NEMO syndrome.

It is a rare condition that left him with a dangerously low immune system after suffering from bacterial meningitis and empyema.

Our top stories

By donating his bone marrow, Rufus hopes his cells will stop Herbie from catching as many infections.

While the pair were in hospital their teachers at North Leigh Primary School decided to nominate Rufus for the gold badge.

The boys’ mother Emily Taylor, 46, said: “The first I heard about it was when they invited me to a special assembly they had for Rufus.

“They presented him with the badge in front of the whole school to tell him that the whole school community was really proud of him.”

Witney Gazette:

Rufus Taylor with his brother Herbie.

The boy’s older sister Lily, 11, has been diagnosed with a similar condition and Lily may also need a bone marrow transplant.

Although she has a twin sister, Kitty, the family is still looking for a donor with a 100 per cent bone marrow match. Mrs Taylor, who has taken time out from her job as a teacher at Witney Community Primary School while Herbie is ill, said the children’s school had been an invaluable support to the family.

The school has previously organised a superhero day to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Herbie was treated, and held a Skype chat between pupils and Herbie from his hospital bed.

Mrs Taylor said: “It was really good of them. The school has been amazing, giving 120 per cent of love and care to all of the children during this whole thing. They’ve made sure that Rufus hasn’t been left out of anything in any way.”

Rufus, who returned to school within three days of donating the marrow, said the ceremony was “great” and thanked the school for nominating him.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.